In loving memory of Abbyann Wasilew, 82, who peacefully departed this world on May 24, 2026, surrounded by her loving family, with a passport full of stamps and stories from her well-traveled life.

Abbyann had a penchant for mountains. Growing up in northern New Jersey, she could only experience them through the books she read about the climbers, especially the women who conquered them. Born in Hackensack, NJ, on January 23, 1944 ("1-2-3-4-4," she would quip), the daughter of the late Francis and Blanche Hewens, younger sister to the late Nancy Bloomquist. A 1962 graduate of West Morris High School in Chester, NJ, she earned a BA in Literature in 1966 from Tufts University and immediately began teaching grade school in Harlem, NYC. In 1970, she earned her Master's in Education from Bank Street College in Greenwich Village.

Abbyann's love of travel ignited in the summer of 1961 as a high school student, when a fellowship brought her to northern England. A few years later, in 1965, inspired by the philanthropic work of Dr. Albert Schweitzer in Africa, she joined Crossroads Africa to help build a maternity hospital in Benin (formerly Dahomey). In 1969, she joined her childhood best friend, Dolores Delli Santi, to spend 6 weeks traveling around Europe on their Eurail passes. These experiences not only furthered her desire to see the world but also her desire to help those in need.

Abbyann's teaching career continued in Laurel, Maryland, and Morristown, NJ, until she ultimately found her home in New Hampshire. Abbyann served as a Reading Specialist and Learning Consultant at Henniker Community Schools, where she changed the lives of students for almost 30 years. Her daughters would regularly serve as her "guinea pigs" at home, testing out new curriculum and strategies in an effort to provide the gift of reading for all children. Abbyann was proud of her work, sharing stories of teaching the "unteachable" student to read at 16, when no one could before. After the dismissal bell, she would tutor anyone willing to learn, including immigrant women in the greater Concord area who gained knowledge and strength by the help she provided them in their transition to American life. Abbyann fed her desire to explore by extensively hiking the Whites in NH with the AMC.

Abbyann married Dave Wasilew in 2009, where she found a partner for both hiking and extensive worldwide travel. In the ensuing years, they spent up to three months each year traveling to out-of-the-way sights and places, including the Azores, Iceland, and numerous US National and Canadian Parks, always with their hiking boots handy.

Abbyann leaves behind her younger sister, Melissa Wisehaupt, and her husband, Den, and "little brother," Dr. Jeremy Hewens, and his wife, Jean. She was the proud Mom to Nancy Little and her husband, Todd; Jessica Traber and her husband, Jason; and Amy Huneau and her husband, Jeremy. She was a boastful "Mimi" to Carter, Mollie, Ben, Julia, and Meryl, her grandchildren who always looked forward to a crazy Mimi story during their visits. Her last, and most beloved title, was the adored wife and adventure partner of Dave Wasilew.

Her daughters will remember special trips to places like the Grand Canyon, where she would drag them out of bed to watch the sunrise on the Southern Rim; a horseback ride through quicksand in Canyon De Chelly to experience the Navajo ruins; countless trips through the snowy Vermont mountains to Camden, NY to spend time with family. Trip by trip, creating memories and laying the foundation for the love of travel for generations to come.

Abbyann did not travel to escape life, but to fully meet and embrace it. Her family and friends wish her well on this next grand adventure. Off you go, Abbyann, off you go.

Arrangements are under the care of Cheshire Family Funeral Home, Chapel, and Crematories. www.cheshirefamilyfh.com.