Anne Marie Flowers

September 3, 2004

A University of Southern Mississippi graduate and employee of the university's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory died in a traffic accident Thursday, Sept. 2, near Urbana, Ill.

Anne Marie Flowers, 31, of Ocean Springs, was manager of the crustacean disease molecular laboratory at the GCRL. Her husband, Charles H. "Chuck" Flowers Jr., also a GCRL employee, received minor injuries, according to colleagues.

Anne Marie conducted her thesis research at the Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Jeffrey M. Lotz, professor of coastal sciences, and received her master's from Southern Miss in August 2000. She was one of the founding members of the GCRL Staff Association and was serving as secretary. She reestablished a recycling program at GCRL, personally collecting and delivering recyclables with funds going to the staff association. She was secretary-elect of the university's Staff Council.

Arrangements are incomplete in her hometown of Fond du lac, Wis. The family requests that memorials be made to the Jackson County Animal Shelter. A memorial service will be held in Ocean Springs at a later date.