Ann Marie Hultmark, 45, Worked in Medical Field

Ann Marie (Teller) Hultmark died peacefully on Feb. 28 at her home in West Roxbury after a courageous 10-year battle with cancer. She was 45.

Ann Marie was born in Oak Bluffs on Nov. 12, 1958, the daughter of Thomas A. and Estey (Look) Teller of Edgartown. She grew up in Edgartown and was graduated from the Martha's Vineyard Regional High School in 1977 and from Cape Cod Community College in 1980. Ann Marie married Eric D. Hultmark in 1985, moving between New York and Boston due to Eric's job with the U.S. Coast Guard. For most of their life together, however, the couple resided in West Roxbury and held a special love and sense of security and belonging while living in New England, and particularly relished living in Boston. The couple had no children.

Ann Marie was a devoted wife, daughter, sister, aunt and friend to her many relatives and acquaintances, and was a shining light of the Teller and Look families of Edgartown. She worked in many jobs over the years, primarily as an administrative assistant specializing in the medical field. For most of the last 14 years, Ann Marie worked alternately between the Harvard School of Public Health and the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, most recently as an executive assistant at the Brigham and Women's Hospital with the Physician's Health Organization. Ann Marie enjoyed tremendously and took great pride in her work, deriving a great sense of accomplishment and community while employed at the hospital. She will be remembered by her colleagues as a tireless and devoted friend and coworker.

Even though Ann Marie's adult life was spent living off-Island, her heart and soul weres always with the sanctity of Martha's Vineyard and her family, and throughout her life she made her way back to the Island frequently for respites from the off-Island rat race. She spent most of her summer weekends each year basking on the Island beaches, walking through the woods and trails of the Island, or working in her mother's garden - places she always found special solace and security. Even though Ann Marie never had children of her own, she always regarded her sister's children, Sara and Sam, as if they were her own. She harbored a special love for both of them deep within her heart, and they were the brightest lights of her life.

Ann Marie is survived by her husband, Commander Eric Hultmark, U.S. Coast Guard, of West Roxbury; her parents, Thomas and Estey Teller of Edgartown; her sister and brother in law, Stephanie and David Bell of Edgartown; her niece and nephew, Sara and Samuel Bell of Edgartown; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws on both Martha's Vineyard and the mainland. Ann Marie's ancestry can be traced back to among the earliest Island and Massachusetts residents, some of whom have been traced back to the first settlers that arrived aboard the Mayflower.

Visiting hours were held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, March 3, at the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 56 Edgartown Road, Oak Bluffs; the funeral service was held at 11 a.m. on Thursday, March 4, at St. Elizabeth's Catholic Church in Edgartown. Interment followed at the New Westside Cemetery, Edgartown. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 10 Brookline Place West, Brookline, MA 02445. Donations should earmarked specifically for breast cancer research, in the memory of Ann Marie Hultmark. Arrangements are by the Chapman, Cole & Gleason Funeral Home, 508-693-1495; for more information and the funeral home's online guest book, visit www.ccgfuneralhome.com.