Annie Glenn, widow of astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn, dies age 100 of COVID-19

Annie Glenn, the wife of the late astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn and a communication disorders advocate, is reported to have died at age 100.

The cause of death was COVID-19 complications.

The Glenns were married for 73 years when John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth, died in 2016 at age 95.

Annie Glenn died early Tuesday morning at a nursing home near family in St. Paul, Minnesota. She was 100.

She lived her entire life with a man who became universally revered, but to millions across the globe, Annie Glenn was her own kind of hero, begins the Cincinnati Enquirer obituary for Annie Glenn:

Annie, as everyone knew her, lived in the shadow of fame, but emerged in mid-life to become an inspiration for people with disabilities around the world by overcoming the chronic stuttering that afflicted and limited her during the years her husband was becoming a household name.

She was born Anna Margaret Castor in Columbus on Feb. 17, 1920, and her father, a dentist, moved the family to New Concord, Ohio, when she was 3. Her parents joined a monthly card club called Twice 5 Club, which included John Glenns parents. She and John, who was 17 months younger, shared a playpen from whence a quintessential love story would take root.

Despite her speech impediment she stuttered 85% of the time Annie was a top student and readily was accepted in the close-knit college town 70 miles east of Columbus in rural Muskingum County.