Anne "Annie" Sugden (née Pearson; previously Kempinski and Brearly) was the daughter of Sam Pearson and the matriarch of the Sugden family.
Annie married Jacob Sugden in 1945, and they had three children - Jack, Peggy and Joe. Jack left Beckindale in 1964 after he and Jacob had a massive argument. Jacob died in October 1972 after developing liver failure due to an alcohol problem, prompting Jack to return in order to claim on his inheritance, and Annie immediately had to act as peacekeeper between Jack and Joe. She also received a proposal or marriage from Amos Brearly, landlord of the Woolpack, but she turned him down. She was upset when Jack left in 1973, and, after a brief visit in 1976, was delighted when he returned home for good in 1980.
Further losses came for the family in 1973 when Peggy suddenly died from a brain haemorrhage just three months after giving birth to twins Sam and Sally, who were killed in a car accident with their father's aunt in 1976, Sam followed in 1984 after winning first place in the village's annual pumpkin show, and Jack's wife Pat died in a car accident when trying to avoid a flock of sheep in 1986.
In October 1993, Annie married Amos' old friend Leonard Kempinski, but on the night they were due to fly out for a holiday in Spain, Leonard was killed when a plane crashed in the village, which left Annie in a coma for three months until the cries of her then-newborn granddaughter Victoria (through Jack) woke her up. Annie was present at Jack's wedding to mobile librarian and Victoria's mother Sarah Connolly in May 1994, and she moved to Spain in July. Joe died in a car accident in June 1995 while staying with Annie in Spain, and she and Amos returned to the UK for his funeral. She proposed to Amos after the funeral, who accepted and they married in November. Annie visited again in November 1996 to persuade Jack to sell the farm. Jack went to stay with Annie after having problems with his marriage to pub landlady Diane Blackstock, but he died suddenly from a heart attack in February 2009, and Annie accompanied his body back to the village and attended his funeral.
Annie remained living in Spain until she passed away in August 2020 at the grand age of 100.
