Obituary of Anne Demarais

Mercer County’s well-known advocate of trails and open space, Anne Demarais, has died. Her long-term companion, Anthony (“Toj”) Colavita, reports she died peacefully on August 8 in the company of friends.

Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1937 to Herman and Meta (Krumme) Mahland, Anne trained to be a business teacher, which she began to do in upstate New York.

She married a colleague, the charismatic music teacher, jazz musician, and artist, Joseph Demarais. They came to New Jersey to teach at Trenton State College (now TCNJ) where Joseph ran a studio teaching print making. They settled in a modest house in the Eldridge Park neighborhood of Lawrence Township, where Anne lived for another six decades.

After Joseph’s untimely death, Anne began printmaking in her home, recruiting and training a number of young women in intaglio-relief technique. Several went on to their own careers in the arts. The Demarais atelier continued to complete Joseph’s limited editions, then undertook printing for other artists until the nineteen-eighties. At that point, Anne created Demarais Studio Press, a small publishing business.

Anne took notice of the abandoned Johnson Avenue Trolley Line at the edge of her neighborhood, seeing its potential for a park trail. That led her to advocate for more trails and open space in Mercer County. Campaigns to secure public access to open space inspired the creation of Eldridge Park Artists, a street theater troupe that included Anne and friends on stilts in the style of Peter Schuman’s Bread and Puppets. The troupe appeared several times at The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festivals, as well as many environmental demonstrations.

Anne has many relatives who keep in touch at annual meetings. They include her brother-in-law, David “Otto” Goetchius, nephews Michael and David Goetchius, cousins Elfriede Grotheer, Fred Meyer, Linda Frisbie, Fred Burgerhoff, their spouses and various degrees of cousins. When they meet, they refer to Anne as “Annemarie,” or “Amy.”

The dedication of The Anne Demarais Nature Center, at the edge of Eldridge Park, is Lawrence Township’s recognition of Anne’s efforts to preserve Drexel Woods and adjacent property for the sake of children’s nature education.

A memorial will be held at a later date.

Memorial gifts in Anne’s honor may be sent to:  Township of Lawrence, Attn: Finance, 2207 Lawrence Road, Lawrence Twp., NJ 08648 (check payable to Township of Lawrence; memo line must include Nature Center Bequest).