Anne Marie Bresnahan Duncan's Obituary
Anne Marie Bresnahan Duncan of Ashburn, VA died on April 9, 2026. Born on May 14, 1943 in Washington, DC to Augustine (Lesko) Bresnahan and Augustine J. Bresnahan. She attended Marian High School in Framingham, MA before matriculating at Regis College in Weston, MA. She transferred to Mary Washington College and graduated in December 1965. Anne began to work for the Defense Logistics Agency where she was accepted into their management intern program the following year. While working for DLA, Anne met her future husband, Jerry Duncan. They married in 1971 and earned their Masters in Public Administration in 1972. Anne took a break from the paying workforce in 1973 upon the birth of their first child. When that same child was looking at colleges in the early ‘90’s she returned to full time employment, eventually finding her way to Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church. In her 20 years there, Anne served as assistant to the rabbi/clergy and adopted her colleagues and that congregation as members of her family.
Anne was an active member of St. Michael Catholic Church and School for over 60 years. She served as Religious Education Teacher, Member of the Choir, Girl Scout Leader, Lector, and Volunteer of all Trades. She and Jerry moved to the Ashby Ponds retirement community in 2017. There she continued to share her love of music by regaling all the residents and staff with her beautiful voice and knowledge of show tunes - among other things. In the last three years, Anne took up a new hobby: painting. She was excited to learn a new form of artistic expression through her lessons with Catherine Fetterman of Art Together, LLC.
Anne was the quintessential older sister. Her family was her greatest joy. Anne is survived by her loving daughters: Julia (John) Cornell of Ashburn, VA and Mary-Rose Amos (David Hansen) of Ashburn, VA, grandsons William and Thomas Cornell, and Joseph Bresnahan, and granddaughters, Marjorie Amos and Cadia Rose Hansen and 2 nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Jerome Duncan, her sister Kathleen Bresnahan, her brother John Bresnahan, her sisters-in-law Janice Schutte and Nancy Robertson, a niece and nephew, and numerous aunts and uncles.
The family will receive friends on Sunday, April 19, 2026 from 3 to 6 pm at Loudoun Funeral Chapel in Leesburg, VA. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Theresa Catholic Church on Monday, April 20, 2026 at 10:30 am with a reception to follow at the Loudoun Funeral Chapel.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to A Place to Be, Leesburg, VA which provides music therapy or Art Together, LLC which provides art therapy. Inurnment to follow at a later date.
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