Annie Konkler was born on December 10, 1951, in Cleveland, Ohio, and was raised there. She went to Saint Augustine High School and stayed friends with many classmates throughout her life. Annie was planning to attend her 50th reunion in October.

Like her mom before her, she had a passion for caring for others and received her nursing degree from Fairview Hospital School of Nursing in 1982.

She had family and many friends whom she loved in Ohio, including Jane and Tom Murphy, who she worked with in the late ‘70s and stayed friends with forever. She always loved the New Year’s Eve lobster meals with them while all of the kids were crammed into basements or bedrooms.

After a summer of motor home living in 1987, she settled in Cypress, California, and worked at Garden Grove Medical Center.

In 1996, Annie moved to Humboldt County to be closer to her children who had settled there and continued her nursing career at Eureka General, St. Joseph, and Mad River Hospitals where she became great friends with Trice Faulkner, Celine Fleckenstein, Marjorie Young, and many others.

During this time, she used her love of travel to help others as a traveling nurse. She worked on the Iditarod in Alaska, Borneo, Thailand, New York City, and Cleveland.

She loved living life to the fullest and having fun. She loved gambling and always made yearly visits to Las Vegas. One of her highlights was spending her granddaughter Autumn’s 21st birthday there. She loved a good prime rib, anything chocolate, whipped cream, and getting people together to enjoy those things and time spent with everyone.

She had a deep love for all of her grandchildren and made sure that they all knew that. She was always there when needed. She was an attendant for Autumn’s birth and made sure to be there throughout the births of her other grandchildren.

She spent the last 16 years of her life with Sal Gurerri, a paramedic whom she met while working at St. Joseph Hospital. They spent their time between Shelter Cove and Eureka. 

Annie left this world unexpectedly on September 17th. She leaves behind her children, Bryan Konkler and Darcy Fardette, Molly Merryman and James Merryman, and Mark Konkler and Kristi Patterson; her grandchildren Autumn and Junior, Dylan, Nate and Samantha; her great-granddaughters Raphaela and Luna; her loving aunt Nina and cousin Marie, along with many other cousins who she remained close to.

She is preceded in death by her mother and father, Georgia and William Anton.

A celebration of Annie’s life will be held in the Spring of 2022 in Humboldt County.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Annie’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here.