Login | September 21, 2024
Akron pays tribute to philanthropist Ann Amer Brennan
SHERRY KARABIN
Legal News Reporter
Published: October 6, 2023
An honest and open individual known for her compassionate problem-solving and organizational skills, Ann Amer Brennan was part of a power couple whose vision and philanthropy helped transform many Akron institutions.
Together with her husband, attorney David Brennan, their gifts played a key role in the renovation and construction of a number of innovative projects.
Brennan, Manna & Diamond Chief Executive Officer Jack Diamond said the Brennans treated the community like family.
“They gave their time, counsel and guidance,” said Diamond. “They were a great team and a powerful force.
“Many, if not most, nonprofits in our region benefited from their wisdom and gifts,” said Diamond. “It’s hard to overstate the positive impact David and Ann had on our community.”
BMD Chairman Tony Manna described Amer Brennan as “extremely smart, loving and giving,” adding she truly believed in helping others.
“Ann was very generous with her time and money, but she was nobody’s fool,” said Manna. “She wasn’t shy about letting you know what she was thinking so you always knew where you stood with her.”
Amer Brennan’s daughter Nancy Brennan, the youngest of her four children, described her mom as a devout Catholic who “lived her faith through her actions.”
“She raised us to be independent, strong-minded individuals and taught us the importance of using your talent and treasure to improve the community where you live,” said Nancy, vice president of the Brennan Management Group.
On July 25, Amer Brennan passed away at the age of 90.
“Mom was one of my best friends,” said her daughter Beth Brennan. “She inspired me in so many different ways.
“She was a strong role model for women,” said Beth. “She was interested in learning what you wanted to do and wanted to help you figure out how to do it. Many of my friends considered her their mentor.”
“My mom and I were really close,” said Nancy. “Until the day she died, she remained witty, curious and generous.
“Education was one of the keystones of our lives and she and my dad tried to make certain that everyone had the same opportunities as their children did,” said Nancy.
“Their values stuck with all of their children and grandchildren.”
“I first met Ann in 1986 when I started at Amer Cunningham Brennan Co. (now Amer Cunningham Co.),” said Manna. “Within a short period of time, I was working under David Brennan. I became involved with the family interests. My family was very close with theirs. My kids referred to David and Ann as their uncle and aunt.
“With the loss of Ann, it truly is the end of an era,” said Manna. “There was no one like her before and no one that I’m aware of who is like her now.”
Born in Akron on May 19, 1933, to Frances Gibbons Amer and Bernard John Amer, she was the younger of their two daughters.
The family lived on Clemmer Avenue, a block from Our Lady of the Elms, where Amer Brennan and her sister Jane attended school.
Amer Brennan received her bachelor’s degree in political science from The Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. in 1955.
When she returned to Ohio, she obtained her teaching credentials from The University of Akron and taught social studies at Thornton Junior High School.
“Mom wanted to be an actress like Katharine Hepburn but my grandfather (one of the founding partners of Amer Cunningham) insisted she do something she could make a living at,” said Nancy.
She married David Brennan on July 6, 1957.
Over the next seven years, they had five children, including one who died at birth.
“Mom quit teaching when she married dad,” said Nancy. “She became a full-time mom and homemaker, which was hard for her.”
“Mom was way ahead of her time,” said Beth, an adjunct professor and director of the academic success program at the University of Montana Alexander Blewett III School of Law.
“The fact that she kept her maiden name as her middle name was unusual,” said Beth. “Every one of us girls kept our maiden names when we married.
“Many of the things I learned from my mother have helped me in my career, both as a lawyer and as a law professor. She showed me how you can be honest, direct and straightforward with people and still be kind at the same time.”
David Brennan initially started a solo practice in Wallhaven.
In 1963, he joined the family firm, which later became Amer Cunningham Brennan Co.
As the children got older, Amer Brennan began volunteering at the Junior League of Akron, serving as president from 1974-1976. She also joined the women’s board of Akron City Hospital (now part of Summa Health).
In 1979, she started law school at age 46. Three years later she obtained her juris doctorate from Akron Law and joined Amer, Cunningham & Brennan.
“She took over my grandfather’s estate work for a few years,” said Nancy. “But in the end she decided she was better suited to philanthropy so she used her law degree to further those efforts.”
Cherie K. Rininger was an executive assistant to David and Ann Brennan.
“Mrs. Brennan was a magnificent lady and I had both of my girls when they were young meet and talk with her,” said Rininger, now executive assistant to Jack Diamond at BMD. “Mrs. Brennan was a strong role model for women by serving as an example of what a woman could achieve.”
By 1990, Amer Brennan was the first woman to chair the Akron Community Foundation.
Over the next 20 years she served on numerous boards, including chairing the boards of the Akron Civic Theatre and Summa Health. She’s also a past president and trustee of the Summa Foundation board and a previous chair of The University of Akron Board of Trustees.
Additionally, she served as chair of the Brennan Family Foundation, which she established with her husband.
In 1991, she and Mary Ann Jackson founded the Akron Area Arts Alliance.
Over the years, the couple invested in numerous organizations ranging from Inventure Place and the Akron Civic Theatre to Summa Health, where they were major contributors.
In 2003, Amer Brennan chaired Summa Health’s Campaign for Critical Care. The couple’s generous gift to the campaign led to the construction of the Ann and David Brennan Critical Care Center on the Summa Akron City Hospital campus.
They also gifted $10 million to St. Vincent-St. Mary High School in 2003.
Their philanthropy helped fund the Sr. Elizabeth Ann Schaefer, O.P., Performing Arts and Athletic Center at the Elms.
They established the David L. Brennan Endowed Chair of Law at UA and the David and Ann Amer Brennan Courtroom/classroom was dedicated in their honor in recognition of their major gift toward the renovation of the C. Blake McDowell Law Center.
Akron Law Professor and Dean Emeritus Martin Belsky met with the Brennans while he was dean to discuss the fundraising campaign.
“As a former alum and Akron University board member, Ann cared deeply about the law school,” said Belsky. “When I met with her and David, she asked a lot of poignant questions about bar passage and post-graduation employment rates.
“They agreed to provide a generous gift,” said Belsky. “Later after I was no longer dean I would run into her from time to time and she would always ask how things were going. She was particularly concerned about female enrollment.
“Ann was a strong personality and a force onto herself,” said Belsky. “She was an independent spirit, with her own interests and good follow through.”
Amer Brennan received numerous accolades, including the Bert A. Polsky Humanitarian Award and the Akron Bar Association’s prestigious St. Thomas More Award.
In recent years, she was less active on community boards but continued her philanthropic support of local nonprofits.
“Organizations looked to my mom for ideas on how to creatively fund projects and solve problems,” said Nancy. “She was an avid reader until the end and she loved the news, insisting on always knowing what was happening.
“Mom was not intimidated by technology. In fact, she was using a computer back in ‘80s. She thought it was a marvelous tool and later when cellphones came out she would text her grandkids all the time.”
Amer Brennan also enjoyed watching TV, playing bridge with friends and did Pilates twice a week until she was just shy of her 90th birthday, said Nancy.
“We were all deeply fortunate to have been loved and raised by her,” said Nancy.
Amer Brennan was laid to rest on Aug. 8.
She is survived by her children Beth, Jay (Julie), Kathleen (Claude Hendon) and Nancy and her grandchildren Brigit Rossbach, Dylan Rossbach, Rosalie Hendon (Fernando Utreras), David Hendon (Ranna Zhou), Michael Hendon (Ellie Burgess), Daniel Hendon, Ann Brennan (Anna Dolezal), Maggie Brennan, Claire Brennan Leslie (Colin) and Hannah Brennan.
Her husband David, infant son Billy, sister Jane Wolf and parents preceded her in death.