Ann Payne Edlen

Ann Edlen was born into a very close family in Cleveland, Ohio the second child of Matt and Mary Payne. She has a brother, Matthew, who is six months older than she. Soon after she was born the family moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, where her father took an engineering position with Lubrizol Oil Co. During the six years the family lived in Canada two more children joined the family, Tommy and Frank. The family then returned briefly to Cleveland where twins, Ellen and Julia were born and then moved to Montclair, New Jersey where the last child, Meg, was born. Ann enjoyed living in all of those places and traces her ability to make friends easily to those early experiences of moving from place to place.

Ann attended Immaculate Conception grammar school and graduated from Mount Saint Dominic Academy in 1970. At the time her passion was politics and she enrolled as a freshman at Trinity College in Washington DC. She successfully petitioned the school to allow her to study abroad her sophomore year so she would be in DC during the 1972 Presidential race.

During her year studying in Aix-en-Provence, France she fell in love with studying art and changed her major. In another twist of fate her brother Matt, studying at the University of Notre Dame sent her an application for admission to the University. She was accepted and became one of the first 372 women selected upon the decision of the school to embrace coeducation. Ann graduated in 1974, with a BA in art in a class of 98 women and 1578 men. Her years at the University of Notre Dame, during which she travelled and spoke on behalf of coeducation, were both challenging and productive.

Following graduation she worked in Washington DC and then returned to Montclair to be an assistant Art teacher at Morristown Beard Academy. Ann returned to Notre Dame in 1976 as part of student administration and pursued graduate studies in Art as well.

In 1979 Ann travelled to Oregon to help a cousin with an advertising project. Intending to stay 3 months, she met; fell in love with and within the year married, her husband Mark, never to return to live in the east.

She worked at the Canby Herald Newspaper in advertising for one year followed by working as Advertising Manger at Fred Meyer Savings and Loan. She left Fred Meyer to work for First Interstate Bank starting as a Marketing Manger and working her way to Vice President and Marketing Director overseeing Product Management, Advertising, and Marketing Research.

Mark and Ann welcomed three children into their lives, all as infants, through the blessing of adoption. Matthew was born in 1986, Tommy in 1988 and Noreen in 1990. Ann decided to leave the corporate world to concentrate on raising their children when their oldest Matthew came into their life. During her years at home she volunteered for many organizations including the children's grammar, middle and high schools, The Junior League, The Portland Art Museum, Portland State University, St Vincent's de Paul, Self Enhancement Inc, The Boy Scouts of America, and the Girl Scouts.

She and Mark were partners in all they did from raising the children to being involved in the community actively participating as coaches and supporters in the children's athletic and extracurricular endeavors as well as being active in all of Mark's business ventures.

In 2008 following the launching of their children into adulthood, Ann and a long time friend started a Marketing company through which they serve both corporate and non-profit clients.

While life has presented challenges for Ann, her sights are always set on the incredible depth and breadth of the blessings in her life. Upon meeting someone Ann instantly is the kind of person who everyone wants as their best friend, which is a tribute to her personality, magnetism and her unending optimistic outlook on life. She has known the love of a large and supportive family and has been extraordinarily graced to share her life with her ture love, Mark as well as he with her, and together with their three children, who give both of them the opportunity to discover the wonder of gowing into their best selves allowing her to see the world in a new way every day!