Ann C. Korhummel of Williamsville, 41, a science teacher at Orchard Park High School, died Monday (Dec. 24, 2001) in Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital, Amherst, after a long illness.

Born in Buffalo, she was a 1978 graduate of Orchard Park High School and held bachelor's and master's degrees in natural sciences from Buffalo State College.

Ms. Korhummel had taught earth science, oceanography and astronomy since 1996 at Orchard Park High, where she wrote the oceanography course for the current school year. From 1986 to 1996, she taught those courses at Cheektowaga Central Senior High School, and from 1982 to 1986, she taught seventh-grade life science at Cheektowaga Central.

A world traveler, she had researched Halley's comet during visits to the Caribbean and southern Florida and witnessed a total solar eclipse in the Hawaiian Islands. She also had studied local lake and river currents as well as the incidence of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in Western New York.

Ms. Korhummel was the coordinator of a districtwide recycling program for the Cheektowaga schools and had been appointed to a presidential committee on solid waste and the Governor's Task Force on Environmental Education. She also was an area curriculum writer for the World University Games, a foster parent for Berkshire Farms and had applied to be a teacher in space for the spacecraft Challenger.

She was a support group coordinator for Lou Gehrig's disease, a Cheektowaga Central varsity softball coach and a member of the Marine Educators Association, Women's Sports Foundation, New York State Science Teachers Association, Buffalo State College Alumni Association and Bengal Club.

She was a Eucharistic minister at St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church and a volunteer for Amherst Girls Hockey.

Also a member of the Buffalo Yacht Club, she enjoyed sailing and outdoor adventures.

Survivors include her mother, Margaret Ehman, and stepfather, Ed Ehman, of Buffalo; a brother, Fred C. Korhummel Jr. of Grand Island; and two sisters, Janice Curatolo of East Amherst; and Lisa Bauer of Lancaster.

A memorial Mass will be offered at 10:45 a.m. Thursday in St. Gregory the Great Church, 200 St. Gregory Court off Maple Road, Amherst.