Annie Tripp, Who Fed the Hungry, Dies at 73

Annie Mae Tripp of Santa Ana, a great-grandmother who devoted her life to feeding hungry people in Orange County, is dead at 73.

Mrs. Tripp, who would have served Christmas dinner at Santa Ana’s Southwest Community Center for the 18th year Wednesday, had suffered from a heart condition. She had undergone surgery last week at Fountain Valley Regional Hospital to clear arteries, according to a daughter-in-law, Nina Tripp.

Mrs. Tripp, recovered from the surgery, was waiting be taken home from the hospital Sunday when she collapsed, Nina Tripp said. She died there a short time later.

Longtime friend Sue Briggs said Mrs. Tripp began her food program after having a dream in which she saw herself feeding a multitude of people. She took it as a sign from God that she should devote the rest of her life to the needy, Briggs said.

Soup Kitchen in Garage

She began a soup kitchen and fed about 10 people a day from her garage, Nina Tripp said. When more people began to show up, she moved to larger quarters and eventually began distributing food at the Southwest Community Center.

“I don’t think there’s a person that knew and worked with her that didn’t love and respect her a great deal,” Briggs said. “She’s just really been an inspiration to people who want to help other people.”

Mrs. Tripp marked her New Year’s Day meal in 1984 by inviting then-presidential counselor Edwin Meese III to supper. Meese said in 1983 that some people who go to soup kitchens do so because “the food is free,” not because they are needy.

“Well, I see that man didn’t show up,” she said at the time. “But fortunately, we are blessed here in Orange County. People here know there are poor people who need help, even if that man in Washington doesn’t.”

Mrs. Tripp is survived by six sons, two adopted daughters, 45 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.

Memorial services will be held all day Friday at Second Baptist Church, 1915 W. McFadden Ave., Santa Ana, and burial will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Fairhaven Memorial Park, 1702 Fairhaven Ave., Santa Ana.

Nina Tripp said she and her husband had temporarily taken over the food program, and she expects that it will continue despite her mother-in-law’s death.