Ann Cullen Smith 

Portrait of Ann as a young girl

Ann Wilder Jewett senior photo, Northrop Collegiate School, 1926

Ann Wilder (Jewett) Cullen Smith  'Andy'
Ann Wilder Jewett, eldest daughter of Frank Jewett and Nora (Wells) Jewett, was born in Hibbing, Minnesota on the 4th of July, 1908. The familly moved to Minneapolis when Ann was five and lived at 1816 Fremont Ave South. Ann attended Northrop Collegiate School, which allowed girls to pursue studies through their second year of college. She also attended Madeira School in Virginia and the Erskine School, Boston.

Miss Ann Wilder Jewett

Marriage to William Cullen
At the age of twenty-one, Ann married William Westphal Cullen (born in Dubuque, Iowa) on July 10, 1929. When they met, Ann and William were both living in the Kenwood neighborhood, Minneapolis. After they married, they resided in Minneapolis at 1944 Penn Avenue South. 

Both Ann and William wanted to move out of the city and live in the country so they purchased the 30-acre property at 2510 Oakland Road in the township of Minnetonka six years later in 1935. ​​They built a house on the property and moved in the spring of 1937. William was employed as secretary, treasurer of the family millwork firm, and the house had magnificent millwork including elaborate cabinets and molding.

​Ann and William had a daughter, Ann, and son, William Junior (Bill). The family kept two large vegetable gardens, one on the east side of Oakland Road and one southwest of the house. They also raised chickens, and spent much of the vegetable harvest season canning. When it was time to harvest vegetables from the garden, Mr. Cullen drove their '41 chevy down the hill through the woods to the vegetable garden to load it up with vegetables!

​Ann volunteered with Visiting Nurses Association and was a board member of The Family Service and Volunteer Service Bureau. Ann was also active in township and city politics.

Marriage to G. Kendall Smith
Ann's husband, William Cullen, passed away in 1970. On November 4, 1978, at seventy years of age, Ann married G. Kendall Smith on the north shore of Lake Superior in Knife River, Minnesota. They were married for eighteen years until Kenny passed away in 1996.

Cullen Family Home — Photo courtesy Bill Cullen

A Legacy of Conservation
The Family Property Preserved in Perpetuity

Ann Cullen Smith placed her 32-acre Minnetonka property into a permanent conservation easement through the Minnesota Land Trust in 2004. Ann and her husband William Cullen agreed early on that they didn't want to profit from the land, but they wanted to ensure it would remain in its natural state if the City acquired the land. She declined offers from many real estate developers, and agreed to sell her property for about half its value to the City of Minnetonka so the City could operate it as a nature preserve. After her passing at the age 106 on January 25, 2015, Ann's property was transferred to the City. In 2004, the City awarded Ann with the Minnetonka Community Action Recognition (CAR) award for her generous donation.​

Ann's vision for the property, detailed in the conservation easement, outlines the importance of preserving the property in its natural state and includes several key conservation values. These values are to protect the open and natural features of the property to provide important woodland, savanna, and wetland habitat for wildlife (with a focus on birds), and opportunities for public education and passive use such as nature observation, study, and quiet reflection. 

One of Ann Cullen's primary hobbies was bird watching. She spent a lot of time observing birds on her own property, in the area, or on other continents. Her husband, William Cullen, rigged a telescope that clamped onto the car window so Ann could watch birds from the car while the couple were on road trips. Ann Cullen Smith traveled all over the world to watch birds—Africa, Australia, Antarctica, New Zealand, and even the Amazon (in her eighties!). She met many lifetime friends on these trips. Bill Cullen, Ann's son, recalls frequently observing pileated, red-bellied, and red-headed woodpeckers, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, eastern meadowlarks, and bluebirds at the Preserve while growing up on the property. 

Hummingbird Habitat Conservation

Violet-crowned hummingbird

​At age 104, Ann helped protect the habitat of the violet-crowned hummingbird in Patagonia, Arizona at Paton's Birders Haven. This striking hummingbird is common in Mexico but only visits a few sites in Arizona and New Mexico during summer.

The owners of the land, Wally and Marion Paton, provided habitat for the hummingbird and hosted many birders over the years. After they passed away, the property was for sale.

Ann happened to visit again in 2012. Although she had become blind by the age of 104, she still loved visiting Paton's to hear the birds. Her niece was traveling with her and told her about the for-sale sign. Ann spoke with the Patons' daughter, Bonnie Paton Moon, and her friend and nature tour operator Victor Emanuel, and the pieces started to fall into place.

Emanuel, a board member of the American Bird Conservancy (ABC), brought the subject to ABC who raised funds to purchase the property, and then to Tucson Audubon Society who agreed to operate it as a birding destination. From there, individuals and foundations contributed to renovation, restoration and management of the site. The property is now called Paton's Center for Hummingbirds.