Ann "Teddie" Richel Schuh

Ann (Teddie) Richel Schuh was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to George and Lucille (Rice) Richel in 1937. She died February 19, 2026,with family around her, in her apartment in Seattle, Washington. As a child she lived above the Grand River in the village of Lamont. When she graduated from East Grand Rapids High School in 1955, she was voted “Friendliest Girl.” She earned a BA in Education from the University of Wisconsin Madison in 1960, and later, a Master of Arts from the University of Washington. At Wisconsin, Ann was a Gamma Phi Beta song leader and a Hoofer, which involved sailing and iceboating on Lake Mendota. Summers, she counseled at YWCA Camp Newaygo, and lifeguarded at Kent Country Club, both in Michigan.

Ann joined her sister on an 8-week Youth Hostel bicycling trip around the British Isles during the summer in 1959; Perry-O and Ann became best friends.

Moving to Seattle, WA in 1960, Ann taught English and French at Ballard High School. She went on to spend 40 years teaching all levels of language arts at Ballard, Rainier Beach, and Garfield High Schools. She believed all humans like to learn, and was recognized for teaching that made learning exciting and her classroom lively. She helped students find their inner learners.

Dale Turner officiated at Ann’s wedding to Wayne Henry Schuh, from Wisconsin, in 1962. The Schuhs lived on houseboats on Dick and Colleen Wagner’s pier under the Aurora Bridge. Over time, Ann lived on 4 different houseboats. She loved being on the water and being part of houseboat communities.

In the 1960’s Ann was part of Monday Night, a group of friends who gathered weekly to share a potluck, make music and watch football. The group has evolved over time, but continues gathering. Treasured friendships remain.

Ann traveled to Anchorage Alaska aboard a Nilson Brothers’ cannery tender in the summer of 1965.

There was an interlude (1968-1970) when Ann worked as the production manager of the Marine Digest (a deep sea trade magazine) and that led to volunteer work on publicity for Save-Our-Ships Seattle. Other volunteer activities included coordinating Seattle’s PTA ski program, sewing costumes for rep theater, and, for many years, she took a bus load of students on an Ashland Oregon Shakespeare theater trip over spring break. Later, Ann asked friends to join her in Ashland for a week in summer. The diverse group of former students, dock friends, family and Monday Nighters, started out camping together, but over the years, changed to finding a house where they could stay together. Shakespeare plays, sometimes twice a day, discussions of plays, great meals and exploring Ashland’s parks and shops made a perfect outing with plenty of opportunities for Ann to share her opinions about the plays.

Ann traveled to Anchorage, Alaska with her widowed mother Lucy; to Costa Rica where Perry-O and David’s family lived; to visit friends in Western Europe and North Carolina. She traveled to Scotland in 2005 with Chris and Rob Keys-Back, and later with Ailie Heins to Orkney Islands. In recent years she went with Perry-O and David, their children and their spouses,(Heidi Sliwa and Chris Burghart of Boulder CO, and Joshua Sliwa and Andromeda Dunker of Los Angeles CA) to Lake Michigan Beaches on Michigan’s Leelanau peninsula, Kauai, the Tetons, Tubac AZ, and Yucca Valley, CA. The family traditionally gathered for Christmas in Boulder, Denver, Los Angeles, Decorah IA, or Seattle.

Retiring from Seattle Public Schools in 2000, Ann taught Shakespeare at the Bellevue Public library, sometimes with Ted d’Arms, sometimes William Clay.

In 2019 when Ann was diagnosed with incurable Polycystic Kidney Disease, she moved to a senior living apartment in Ballard where she could walk down to marinas on Salmon Bay, or to the locks where she tracked boats, gardens, and the great blue herons on their nests. The Ballard Farmers Market provided flowers, fruit, vegetables, and her favorite scones, all year. Ann taught Shakespeare, and served on the resident council, and garden and library committees.

Ann would count her family and friends most dear in her life, keying in to their interests and growing edges, supporting them with her keen mind and warm heart.

Friends and family will gather in Seattle to remember Ann’s life around July 17,2026, which would have been Ann’s 89th birthday.