Ann Stellman: Restless but rooted in Rehoboth
For nearly 30 years, Ann Stellmann has been a mainstay of Rehoboth Beach’s Country Club Estates community.
A native of Cincinnati who spent most of her professional life in Baltimore, Stellmann has had a home in Country Club Estates since 1986 and has been on the board of the community’s homeowners association almost as long.
She's been in the neighborhood so long, she recalls a time when the development had just begun sprouting up on the former Rehoboth Beach Country Club golf course. Stellmann said a major battle arose in the community's early days over two-story houses when the original developers wanted smaller, one-story homes.
Stellmann and her husband, Bill, had been coming to Rehoboth for many years, renting in different locations before deciding to buy a home. They bought their home on Hickman Street and have remained there ever since. Married for 59 years, the Stellmanns met when they were both in college, he at Johns Hopkins University and she at Goucher College, both in Baltimore.
Being around them, it is easy to see how they've been together so long. They'll often finish each others sentences or lead each other into a different topic. Ann has a warm, grandmotherly vibe, surrounded by her needlepoint pieces and family pictures all over the walls. Bill comes off as the more extroverted, with a big voice and friendly demeanor.
Stellmann said despite their being more young people around, Country Club Estates hasn’t changed much over the years compared to the rest of the town. She said she's very proud of the association's role in helping get and maintain the Silver Lake tot lot, where many of the neighborhood children go to play.
“I enjoy it,” she said of the neighborhood. “I have four grandchildren, and they spent their summers with me. That’s one of the reasons I liked it because it attracted them here.”
Many of Stellmann’s memories of Rehoboth involve her kids, Susan and Daniel, and her four grandchildren. Stellmann recalls often being the first one to get to the beach. When the kids would arrive, she said, they'd often be hungry, so she'd hop on her bike and go back to the house to make them BLT sandwiches. She said she always maintained a strict 11 p.m. curfew on the kids when they were down.
One of the Stellmann's passions is fishing. She recalls a time when she and Bill were out on their boat, and Bill ran into a sandbar. Ann had to get out and push the boat, something she said her children still tease her about. Stellmann said she was always very competitive with the boys over who could catch the most fish.
She made her career as a specialist working with dyslexic children. A dyslexic herself who had taught herself to read, Stellmann spent 20 years at the St. Paul’s School in Baltimore, teaching dyslexic kids how to read and do math. Although she is retired at age 83, Stellmann still does some freelance work working with dyslexic children in the Rehoboth area.Two of her grandchildren are also dyslexic, and Stellmann said during days at the beach, she and the kids use the sand to work on tracing their letters.
Stellmann said she got into teaching mostly because she needed something to do. Being dyslexic and having not done great in school herself, Stellmann said she grew to love teaching because of the children she worked with.
A restless soul, Stellmann has retired more than once, but always wants to find something to do, whether it's teaching kids or doing needlepoint, which she does to relax. She took it up when her mother was in the hospital.
“She was tired of seeing me knit,” Stellmann said. “She looked at me and said, "I’m so sick and tired of you knitting,’”
A former member of the planning commission and former treasurer of the Rehoboth Beach Homeowners Association, Stellmann said much like today many of the battles fought during her time in public service were over the size of homes.
Looking back, Stellmann said of Rehoboth, “It means family. It means knowing people that I know. It’s just been a perfect fit."
