Annabel (Rickard) Pangborn, 89, of Lansing, Mich., and Venice, Fla., passed away Friday, Jan. 4, 2013, at Maplewood Assisted Living in Mt. Pleasant, Mich., surrounded by her loving family.

Annabel was born June 17, 1923, in Canton, Ohio, daughter of the late Arthur and Pearl (Lang) Rickard and Mabel Carr Rickard. She married her true love and life companion Don Pangborn April 2, 1960.

In many ways Annabel was a pioneer for her time. She valued education highly and received her cachelor’s degree from Case Western Reserve and her master’s degree in Public Health and Dietetics from UNC Chapel Hill. She traveled to Oregon and other parts of the country to pursue her career aspirations and finally settled in Lansing.

Annabel was a kind, gracious, adventurous, fun-loving mother, wife, aunt, friend and Nana. She enjoyed life by helping others, gardening, traveling, entertaining, volunteering and being with friends. Joyful times were spent at her Lost Lake cottage and Venice condo. Playing with her grandchildren, hunting for blueberries in the Upper Peninsula woods, shopping with her girls and searching for sharks’ teeth on the Gulf beaches were precious times.

In her later years she enjoyed living by her family in Cary, N.C., and Mt. Pleasant, Mich.

Annabel is survived by adoring daughters and sons-in-law, Ann (Pangborn) and Andy Gustafson of Cary, N.C., and Elizabeth (Pangborn) and David Heeke of Mt. Pleasant, Mich.; four fabulous grandchildren, Chelsea Elizabeth Gustafson, Ryan David, Maxwell Donlin and Zachary Arthur Heeke; niece, Pam (Robert) Haney of Venice; sister-in-law, Bertha Pangborn; and much-loved nieces and nephews.

Annabel was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Donlin C. Pangborn, in 2004; her sister, Alice Evans; and her brother, Edward Rickard.

Services: A service celebrating her life was held at Wednesday, Jan. 9, at The Peoples Church, East Lansing. To sign the online guest book or send a condolence to the family, visit www.CharlesRLux.com.

Contributions: Memorial donations may be made to a memorial fund at Peoples Church or Venice Presbyterian Church in Annabel’s name.