The woman behind the Howard Hanna empire
Anne Hanna never had a business card or held a position at Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, but family members and company veterans said she was the force that turned the small family business into a real estate empire.
"It was her inspiration and drive that made the company what it is now," said her son, Howard "Hoddy" Hanna III, president and CEO of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and Hanna Holdings, Inc.
Anne Freyvogel Hanna, of Oakland, philanthropist, volunteer and wife of real estate mogul Howard Hanna, died Sunday, June 12, 2005, of heart complications at UPMC Shadyside hospital. She was 81.
Hanna said his mother was at his dad's side when he founded the company in 1957. With no receptionist or secretary, Mrs. Hanna answered the phone at the company's first office on the corner of Bayard and Craig streets in Oakland.
Howard Hanna now is the largest real estate company in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and New York, and the sixth largest residential brokerage firm in the country.
"We received her vision and focus. Her drive and determination filtered down to a lot of people in the company. This is truly not just a big loss to the family, but to the company," Hanna said.
Helen Hanna Casey said the children lovingly called their mother "General."
"At first it was because of the tall hats she used to always wear. But the name stuck because that is how she gave everyone their marching orders," Hanna Casey said.
"She was a great leader, and everyone followed her in a big way," she said.
"She had very little feet, but was always a step ahead of everyone else," Hanna Casey added.
A Pittsburgh native, Mrs. Hanna attended grade school at St. Bede's in Point Breeze and graduated high school from the former Our Lady of Mercy Academy in Oakland.
She met her husband on a blind date while he was a student at the University of Pittsburgh. They were married for 62 years.
Mrs. Hanna was a leader outside the family business as well, dedicating her life to philanthropy and volunteerism.
Mrs. Hanna was the honorary president of St. Lucy's Auxiliary, a volunteer organization founded in 1957 to benefit the Greater Pittsburgh Guild for the Blind.
In 1964, she founded the Bishop's Medallion Ball, the major benefit event of Pittsburgh Vision Services, a nonprofit agency in Oakland that aids people who are blind or visually impaired.
"Her legacy is that she was a strong believer in volunteerism and people giving back to the community," Hanna said.
She was a lifetime member of St. Paul Cathedral in Oakland, where she was chairwoman of the 75th anniversary celebration and a former president of the Christian Mothers, a church auxiliary.
Mrs. Hanna was a member of the Twentieth Century Club, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Golf Club.
Katie McSorley, a friend of the Hanna children, remembered Mrs. Hanna as "the first lady of entertaining."
"I learned everything from how to have a political debate to how to throw a party," said McSorley, who spent much of her time after school as a teenager at the Hanna home.
"She had such a flair for how to have a party. Everything was always very special," McSorley added.
Mrs. Hanna was preceded in death by her parents, John and Helen McTighe Freyvogel, and two brothers, Thomas J. M. Freyvogel and John A. Freyvogel Jr.
Mrs. Hanna is survived by her husband, Howard W. Hanna Jr.; children, Howard Hanna III and wife, Mary Anne, of Fox Chapel, Helen Hanna Casey and husband, Stephen, of Shadyside, and Annie Hanna Cestra and husband, Dennis, of Fox Chapel; 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Friends will be received from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at John A. Freyvogel Sons, Inc., 4900 Centre Ave. at Devonshire Street, Shadyside. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Thursday in St. Paul Cathedral, Oakland. The family asks everyone to meet at the church. Remembrances may be made to St. Lucy's Auxiliary to the Blind, 305 Martha Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317.
