Ann Marie Sinclair, 63, of Springfield, died on Thursday, May 19, 2022 ,at Memorial Medical Center in Springfield, surrounded by her family and friends, following an illness of acute myeloid leukemia.
A Celebration of Life will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 28, at Beacon Church, 622 North Franklin in Litchfield, with Jon Magnuson officiating. Burial will be at Elm Wood Cemetery in Litchfield.
Ms. Sinclair was born on April 28, 1959, at St. Francis Hospital in Litchfield, the daughter of James C. and Mary Kay (Blaeuer) Sinclair. She was a 1977 graduate of Litchfield High School and continued her education at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, receiving her associates degree in business and marketing. In her early years, she enjoyed waitressing and had once served Simon and Garfunkel. Ms. Sinclair’s career consisted predominately of marketing sales. She sold real estate for Century 21, was an insurance broker in Carefree, AZ, was in car sales with Huber Pontiac moving up to finance manager with Saturn of Springfield’s opening team. She was never bored and at one time started purchasing run down rental property and learned to install roofing, siding, plumbing and some electrical.
Ms. Sinclair had a life-long passion for motorcycles and vintage cars that started at age 10 and continued into retirement. She raced motorcross in her teens and was second for the year in the 1977 Men’s 175cc class. She would buy motorcycles with blown engines, repair them, and sell them to help support the cost of motorcross racing. She had also made 2 episodes on her Harley for the “Cruising Illinois” TV show which aired on channel 20 in Springfield. In her spare time, Ms. Sinclair enjoyed traveling, cooking and writing about her many experiences and sometimes hilarious episodes, which included driving a 1966 Buick convertible from Phoenix, AZ to Litchfield, IL. Leaving in May, she dressed for mild weather, however, a record breaking snowfall hit New Mexico as she valiantly drove through it with no heater. She arrived in Illinois during a thunderstorm and the whole rag top blew off the car. She arrived in Litchfield soaking wet and with no top on the convertible. Ms. Sinclair was also one of the lead people for the 1700 mile walk, from Irving to Phoenix, AZ, to raise funds for the Continuing Recovery Center in Irving, which is still in operation today. Ms. Sinclair also loved her horses and rescue animals, including bottle feeding a baby skunk and raccoon. She had a beautiful smile and never met a stranger, always offering a helping hand to those in need.
Ms. Sinclair is survived by her mother; companion, Riet van Ingen; friend and caretaker, Pam Campbell; sister-in-law, Christine Sinclair, step-sisters, Patricia Howard, Sue (Brian) Gray; step-brother, Allan (Cyndy) Howard; nieces, Alisha (Tyler) Heyen and Emily (Andrew) Reck; several great-nieces and great-nephews; step-nieces and step-nephews, Jason (Aleah) Ginos, Nikki (Zach) Lipe, Alex Ginos, Shelby Gray, Dylan (Kelsey) Gray; and several step-great-nieces and step-great-nephews.
She was preceded in death by her father; brothers, David Sinclair and Bill Sinclair; grandparents, Catherine and Spires Sinclair, and William and Velma Blaeuer; and her step- mother, Mary Howard.
Condolences may be left online at www.basspattondeanfh.com.
