Anne (Anna) Humber Little, 101, of Gainesville, died July 4, 2015 at Haven Hospice. She had been in declining health for several years, but had no life threatening illness. The cause of death was old age, aggravated by a recent fall. She was born Anna Stallings Humber on November 24, 1913 in Lumpkin, Georgia, the first child of Jim and Mary Humber. Although she grew up in Georgia, in her early teens Anne moved to Clarksdale, Mississippi and she graduated from Clarksdale High School in 1931. Anne attended Agnes Scott College in Atlanta from 1931-1935, graduating with high honors in a double major of English and French. She was selected for membership in Phi Beta Kappa and Mortar Board Honorary Society. As she graduated in 1935, the new dean of the University of Florida’s University College, Winston W. Little, came to Agnes Scott to recruit her to be his administrative secretary, on the advice of a recent Agnes Scott graduate who worked at UF. She came to Gainesville to be his secretary, they fell in love and were married in August 1936. He enjoyed a long and distinguished career at UF, retiring after 30 years as Dean. A classroom building on campus, Winston W. Little Hall, is named in his honor. She was active in civic life and a lifelong patron of the arts. She was an organizer and early president of the Foundation for the Promotion of Music (now Friends of Music); she served as president of the University Women’s Club and as president of the Gainesville Women’s Club, presiding over the first two years in the “new” club building in 1961-63. She was a member of Chapter AP of PEO for more than 60 years, and was chairman of the PEO State Convention in 1970. She was also a member of DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) for more than 60 years. Her lifelong interests included music, art history, photography, bird watching, gardening, bridge and especially, and whenever possible, travel. She visited all the continents except Antarctica, she traveled to China and to East Africa twice, to Europe more than a dozen times. As she recalled, “I’ve been to so many fabled places – The Taj Mahal and the Parthenon, Machu Pichu and the Great Wall, Mt. Everest and The Dead Sea, Iguassu Falls and Ayers Rock, Paris and Papua. I’ve loved them all.” Anne was a devoted and proud mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She had three children: JoAnne Mills (Clayton), Winston and Marilyn Tubb (George). She had five grandchildren: Clayton Mills, Jr., John Mills, Bruce Mills, Katherine Anne Tubb and Tracy Tubb Mergenthaler. Her 10 great grandchildren include two namesakes, Anna Mills and Roxie Anna Mergenthaler, as well as Clayton Mills III, Katarina Mills, Alexandra Mills, Ava Mills, Aidan Mills, Ashley Mills, Erik Mills, and Alyssa Mills. She is predeceased by her husband, Winston W. Little, her brother James, her sister Martha, her oldest daughter, JoAnne, and her namesake granddaughter, Katherine Anne. The service is scheduled for Wednesday July 8, 2015 at 2:00PM at First United Methodist Church, where Anne has been a member for nearly 75 years. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made either to Katherine’s Tree at the Alachua County Library Foundation or to the First United Methodist Church.
