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Annie Glenn, Activist And Widow Of John Glenn, Dies Of COVID-19

Annie Glenn, the wife of the late astronaut, Senator and presidential candidate John Glenn, has died of complications from COVID-19.

Anna Castor was born in Columbus in 1920 and when she was 3 she moved to New Concord in Muskingum County, where her family met the family of John Glenn.

They were high school sweethearts and were married through his trips to space and to Washington for a total of 73 years till his death in 2016.

Annie Glenn seemed inseparable from her famous husband. But she was admired for her work too.

She was an adjunct professor in the speech pathology department at Ohio State University and an activist for people with disabilities. She talked about her own struggles in an interview with the Ohio Channel in 2012.

“I grew up with a hard problem, too, being such a severe stutterer – I was 85%. I could hardly talk," she said.

The American Speech Language and Hearing Association created an award named for her to honor people who’ve overcome communication disorders.

Annie Glenn died at a nursing home in Minnesota, near her family. She was 100.  She’ll be buried with her husband in Arlington National Cemetery.

Anna Castor Glenn
Ohio History Connection /
Anna Castor Glenn
Annie and John Glenn at a Statehouse event promoting the iCivics online program in May 2015.
Karen Kasler /
Annie and John Glenn at a Statehouse event promoting the iCivics online program in May 2015.
Annie Glenn touches her husband's casket as he lies in state in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse on December 16, 2016.
Ohio Channel /
Annie Glenn touches her husband's casket as he lies in state in the Rotunda of the Ohio Statehouse on December 16, 2016.

Copyright 2020 The Statehouse News Bureau

Contact Karen at 614/578-6375 or at kkasler@statehousenews.org.