Anne J. Bridge

Anne Jean Bridge (Leffel), 80, resident of Lake Nebagamon, WI passed away peacefully on Thursday, October 31, 2024. She was born in Superior on September 24, 1944, the daughter of Charles and Gladys (Johnson) Leffel.

Anne grew up on a dairy farm in Wentworth, WI and graduated from Northwestern High School in the class of 1962. It was there that she found her love for art and music, which lead to her many lifetime adventures.

Anne began a professional art career as a Fashion Illustrator at Orecks in Duluth, MN where she worked for seven years starting as a fashion artist and ending as an advertising director, singing in a band on the weekends for fun.

In 1973 Anne packed up her two daughters and moved to San Diego to escape from the cold climate. She tried without success to find a job as a fashion illustrator but instead found work as a singer. For the next seven years, Anne had a very successful career singing with her band, Anne’s Parade. They not only played in San Diego, but on tours across the country, including ongoing performances in Las Vegas. This led her to pack up her two daughters once again and to move to Las Vegas in 1979.

After performing in Las Vegas for a while, Anne decided to change careers so she could be home with her daughters more and became a blackjack dealer. She spent her spare time painting with the dream of becoming a full-time professional Fine Artist. By 1985 Anne had already amassed many local arts show awards and entered the Las Vegas Telephone Directory Cover Competition. She took 1st place, which placed her painting on the cover of the Telephone Directory. In addition to every home and office in Southern Nevada (one-half million copies were printed), her work was seen around the world. The exposure catapulted Anne’s art career, and within three years her dream of being a full-time Professional Fine Artist came true.

Throughout the years Anne’s work garnered awards too numerous to list. She participated in many prestigious invitational and juried shows and was still creating and showing paintings in prestigious galleries coast to coast up until a couple years ago when her fight with Dementia made it too difficult to plan and organize. As Anne would often say in her last years, “I have lived a life that most dream of and I’ve created art that will live on. If someone views my paintings and I arouse their emotions, or stir their imagination, then I feel I have succeeded.” Anne definitely succeeded and did so with flair, humor and love.

Anne’s success also allowed her the flexibility to live where she desired, which brought her to Oregon, Arizona, Massachusetts and finally back to the Midwest in Lake Nebagamon, WI, where you could find her singing once again on Friday nights at Bridge’s Bar or having fun with her family, who she cherished. Anne was truly one of a kind and we will miss her immensely.

Anne is survived by her two daughters, Traci (Bridge) Longa (Mickey Christenson) Lake Nebagamon, WI and Toni Bridge, Las Vegas, NV; and her grandchildren Sophie, Andrew, Daniella and Hunter.

She is preceded in death by her parents and brother Jimmy Leffel.

A Celebration of Anne’s Life will begin at 2:00 PM on Saturday, June 7, 2025, at Bridge’s Bar, 6891 S. Lake Ave in Lake Nebagamon, WI, with a Time of Remembrance at 3:00 PM.

The Lenroot-Maetzold Funeral home, 1209 E. 5th Street in Superior, is assisting the family with arrangements. To leave a condolence or sign the guestbook, please visit www.lenroot-maetzold.com