Anna Marie (Laveck) Scott-Cartner

Anna Marie Scott-Cartner, 86, passed away on May 17, 2026, at the SECU Hospice House in North Carolina. She was beloved by every family member and friend who had the privilege of basking in the bright light of her love, playfulness, and generosity. For them, life is going to be a lot less fun.

Anna Marie was born in Ashtabula, Ohio, on August 1, 1939, to Charles and Anna Laveck. Her legendary hijinks began at the tender age of 3 when her parents brought her newborn brother home from the hospital. She hit him on the forehead with her spoon, declaring, “I don’t like him.”

The comments on her elementary school report cards reveal a character in the making. Although she received above average marks for her intellect and industry, under the categories of obedience and self control respectively, her teacher wrote, “Not always willing to obey” and “Has trouble keeping hands to herself.”

She began developing a reputation as a prankster while attending Saint John High School (Class of ‘57) when she told a squeamish friend that she had lost her finger while chopping meat on the job at the local grocery store. She then revealed her “severed finger”—her perfectly fine finger covered in ketchup that she had stuck through the bottom of a small gift box with a lid.

She and her cousin Carol Pete were close and had loads of fun together. After Carol went blind, she confessed to Anna Marie that she really missed driving. Anna Marie then drove Carol to the expansive parking lot of Kent State University’s Ashtabula campus and let Carol drive the car.

Her fun-loving spirit attracted the attention of the quiet and shy Morley Scott. They wed in 1961 and had two boys, Brian and Alan. She told her sons often that they were “the best thing that ever happened to me and your dad.”

After Morely was killed by a drunk driver, Anna Marie eventually remarried to William Cartner. This fun-loving and philosophical man would often volunteer to play Santa Claus. He was the perfect match for the legendary generosity of his new Mrs. Claus, Anna Marie. Her brother always said, “If my sister had a nickel, she would spend a dime on you.”

After Bill died much too young, Anna Marie doted on her four grandchildren, all of them confessing that she spoiled them rotten. Each has special memories of the gifts she would lavish on them, the delicious meals and desserts she would cook for them, and the hilarious pranks she would play on them and eventually with them.

Anna Marie is survived by her husband Jack Merrill, her son Alan Scott (Sandy), her daughter-in-law Laura Scott, her grandchildren, Devin (Miranda), Autumn (Jeffry Myers), Cory, and Alyssa (Robert Brecker), and her great grandchildren Paisley, Addilyn-May, Lucia, Roxanna, and Van. She was preceded in death by her husbands Morley Scott and William Cartner, and by her son Brian Scott.

Funeral mass will be celebrated on Thursday May 28, 2026 in Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church with burial to follow in St. Joseph Cemetery.

Visitation will be on Wednesday from 5 to 7 at Guerriero Funeral Home 1550 West 19 St. Ashtabula , Ohio

Memorial contributions can be made to Samaritan House 4125 Station Ave. Ashtabula.

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