Anna Marie (Jensen) Wescott

On June 3rd, 2026, Anna Marie Jensen Wescott of Lee graduated with honors from the School of Life. Now flying with the wings of an angel, her future is limitless and the reach of her impact boundless.

Over her lifetime, she acquired many degrees and held various titles. But the scope of her impact cannot be defined by the diplomas on her wall or her salutations.

Anna Marie's earthly education began on June 20, 1951 in Schenectady, NY as daughter to Poul and Augusta Zeiller Jensen and little sister to Paul and Ingrid. She held the title of little sister for a decade, but just as her siblings left home, her brother John was born, promoting Anna Marie to the title of big sister.

The summer before her junior year in high school, her family moved to Dalton, MA and after spending the summer living with her childhood best friend, she began the second half of her high school career at Wahconah High. There, her love of education blossomed as a member of the Future Teachers of America. When she graduated from Wahconah High School in 1969, she headed to North Adams State College in pursuit of her teaching degree.

After marrying Richard A. Wescott in 1972 and starting their family, she returned to college to finish her degree and graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education in 1980. For Anna Marie, education was a lifelong journey. While working full time as a teacher, she spent much of her off-time being a student herself, taking various certifications and courses over the years, and in 1993, she earned her Master of Education from Lesley College.

While being a devoted daughter, loyal sister, dedicated mother and grandmother, beloved wife, adored aunt, proud godmother, and known only as Mrs. Wescott to her students, Anna Marie was an educator and advocate for the youth of Lee, Massachusetts. Throughout her career with Lee Public Schools from 1984-2014, she taught Chapter Education, volunteered with the Talented and Gifted Program and PTA, helmed the mathematics classrooms of both junior high and high school, and acted as Department Head of Mathematics at Lee Middle and High School. Even after she retired, she heeded the call of the classroom returning as a substitute teacher and being a voice for teachers and students as a member of the Lee School Committee.

She taught various grades throughout her career, but her true love was junior high. She took her students' education personally. She treated every student with the same dedication and devotion as she did her own children. She believed a student's grade was a reflection of her teaching, not their learning. A failing grade was hers, not theirs. She went above and beyond to make sure every student learned mathematics, but the most important lessons she taught cannot be accounted for in numbers, facts, and figures.

Mrs. Wescott was the calm in the storm of adolescence, the buoy of kindness and compassion students reached for when the waters became too violent. After the last schoolbell rang for the day, you could find her at her desk grading papers, tutoring a student, offering a makeup exam, or quietly conversing with a student who just needed an adult to listen to them.

Her joy came from watching her children, her granddaughter, and her students evolve over the years. She made an effort to be at every play, concert, sporting competition, and academic event for her own children and for her students. When her children were young, she volunteered for afterschool activities to spend more time with them, and she treasured every moment with her granddaughter playing games, coloring, and seeing her smile. Her students were her extended family, and she always showed up for them, right up to graduation day when she met with them backstage, readying them for the walk across the stage. She had one final moment with them, one bit of advice to give or more importantly, one more moment to simply listen.

The impact she had on her immediate family and the youth of Lee, Massachusetts extends beyond the blackboard, beyond the borders of the town, and beyond the timeframe of adolescence. Mathematics was her specialty, but the single most important lesson she taught was not written in a notebook but in the hearts of those whose lives she touched: The greatest present you can give someone is just that, to be present.

Anna Marie is survived by her devoted husband of 54 years Richard A Wescott, her children Stephanie Wescott of Burbank, CA and Richard Wescott of Boston, MA, her granddaughter Vivienne and daughter-in-law Alexandra Strong, her sister Ingrid Rinard of Idaho and brother John Jensen of Dalton, MA, along with countless students who had the privilege of sitting in her classroom throughout the decades that she stood at the chalkboard.

Calling hours will be held at Lee Congregational Church community room Monday June 15th from 5pm-6pm. Funeral services will be held immediately following in the sanctuary at 6pm. A brief burial service will be held Tuesday June 16th at 11am at the Fairmount Cemetery in Lee.

In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Lee Youth Association's Busy Bee Learning Center for the next generation, in care of Kelly Funeral Home, 3 Main Street, Lee, MA 01238.