ANN JARRETT, 74, TEACHER, COUNSELOR

Ann (McNamee) Jarrett of Chatham, a sociologist and educator, died at home Thursday. She was 74.

Mrs. Jarrett was a native of Spencer. A 1946 graduate of David Prouty High School, she received a bachelor's degree from the College of Our Lady of the Elms in in Chicopee in 1950. Mrs. Jarrett later received a master's degree in psychology from Springfield College. She worked in the Springfield School Department for 36 years, as a teacher for 17 years and as a psychological counselor for 19 years. She had been a court investigator in care and protection cases since 1991.

Through her volunteer efforts, school posts, and her role with the court system, she worked on behalf of children for nearly 50 years. Much of her effort focused on trying to help at-risk children remain with their mothers.

Mrs. Jarrett was a communicant of Holy Redeemer Church in Chatham. She was also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and the American Association of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

She received Rotary International's highest honor, the Paul Harris Fellow, and was a member of the Junior League of Springfield, the Colony Club, Eastward Ho! Country Club, the Hyannis Yacht Club, and the Mononmoy Yacht Club of Chatham.

She leaves her husband, Leroy F.; and a sister, Francine McNamee Shea of Brielle, N.J.

A funeral Mass will be said tomorrow at 10 a.m. in Holy Redeemer Church in Chatham. Burial will be in St. Michael's Cemetery in Springfield.