Anne Dammarell was born in Cincinnati. Ohio on January 2, 1938. Upon graduating from Our Lady of Cincinnati College in 1960, she interviewed housewives throughout the country about P&G products for a couple of years before living in Europe a few years.
In 1965 she joined the Agency for International Development serving in Washington, DC with the Office of International Training then as Afghanistan Desk Officer before being posted to Lebanon and Sri Lanka. Anne retired in 1988.
As a volunteer she taught English at neighborhood Schools, Sacred Heart and Sitar Art Center and then in Cairo and Bangkok with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
In 1994 Anne earned a Georgetown University Master’s degree with her thesis, Hidden Fears, Helpful Memories: Aftermath of the 1983 Bombing of the United States Embassy in Beirut.