Cloquet, MN - Marianne "Ann" (Hughes) Nordholm, 95, of Cloquet, MN passed away on January 1st, 2026 at Essentia - St Mary's, Duluth, MN with her three children present following a brief illness.

Ann was born on June 2, 1930, in Mankato, Minnesota, the daughter of E. Raymond and Alice Lowe Hughes. She graduated from Mankato High School in 1948 and from Carleton College in 1952. It was at Carleton that she met her future husband, Dick Nordholm. They were married upon her graduation and settled in Cloquet, Minnesota where they lived for twenty-three years. Later, Dick's career took them to Moraga, California for twelve years, and their retirement took them to Rio Verde, Arizona for thirty years. Ann spent the last nine years of her life back in Minnesota.

Throughout her life Ann was an active teacher, musician, and contributor to her communities. She worked in child services for St Louis County before starting her family. She taught Red Cross swimming to children at Cary's Resort on Big Lake and Herb Drew pool in Cloquet for eighteen summers, led Brownie and Girl Scout troops, started a meeting place for seniors, led charitable organizations, American Field Service (AFS), Friday Club, and, throughout her entire adult life, was a committed member of P.E.O.

She was proud to have begun the first volunteer deaf relay service in 1979 in California, training ninety volunteers to connect hearing-impaired people to outside social and business contacts. This became the model for the first state-wide program in California in 1987 before nation-wide standardized access was created under the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

Ann was an enthusiastic trombone player in school and community jazz and concert bands for over eighty years. She relished assembling with a band for the 4th of July boat parade on Big Lake. She was an avid bridge player throughout her life. She loved active sports including tennis, golf, swimming, and horseback riding, and encouraged her family and friends to "try to do something every day". Ann and Dick had wide social circles and loved to host dinner parties, travel with friends, bring together the 'gang of twelve' from Ann's high school, and, most of all, gather with their family every summer at Big Lake.

Ann and Dick were married for sixty years prior to his death in 2012. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Thomas Lowe Hughes, in 2023. She is survived by her children Brad (Alison) Nordholm of Edgewater, MD, Sarah (Joe) Davis of Miami, FL, and Karen (Bob) Anderson of Cloquet, MN; ten grandchildren; fourteen great-grandchildren; her AFS son, Jens Molgaard Sorensen of Roskilde, Denmark; and a remarkable number of life-long friends.

The family will organize a private memorial when they can gather at Big Lake this summer. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Cloquet Educational Foundation - Nordholm Fund, 302 14th Street, Cloquet, MN 55720