By Joy Donovan
Photography by Jill Johnson
Saying yes to opportunity has become Anne Marie Bratton’s signature brushstroke in the canvas of her life.
When her husband, Doug, asked about moving from New England to Fort Worth, her first question was “Fort Where?” but her answer, of course, was yes. And 35 years later, that decision still feels exactly right.
“If you’re going to move somewhere, you need to move to Fort Worth,” Bratton said, while sitting in the Westover Hills home she loves. “It’s such a great city that people have discovered it.”
A native New Yorker who today splits her time between Fort Worth and Nantucket, she has learned to love both the Fort Worth rodeo and the Nantucket beaches. But the past year, this wife, mother and new grandmother has chosen to spend most of her time in Texas.
That’s because she is serving as the centennial president of The Fort Worth Garden Club, a long-revered and still dynamic organization. For 100 years, its members have worked to improve, refine and elevate the city. She is thrilled that she said yes to chairing this thriving organization in its 100th year with 675 members and a waiting list of 200 more.
“I wanted to do one last big hurrah where I feel like I’ve given to Fort Worth my time,” she said.
“The concept of working with this group of women is what did it. The friendships I’ve gained, I’ve gotten more than I’ve given. I can promise you that.”
On Apr. 1, 1926, the 100-year-old club held its first meeting in a Texas city not known at the time for its beauty.During the past century, the club has accomplished much more than most residents realize, from paying staff salaries during The Great Depression to planting trees to educational programs. This year has been even more intense with unique events added to the club’s normal volunteer activities and educational programs. Club members have looked forward to a unique trip to London’s celebrated Chelsea Flower Show, an anniversary black-tie gala in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, publishing a book detailing the club’s history and the long-awaited opening of The Baker Martin Family Garden.
Bratton, excited about it all, has attended every single activity in this celebratory year.
“I’ve loved it,” she said. “Why would I short myself from these activities? I’ve really enjoyed being president. I’m so glad I said yes.”
None of this surprises the people who know her well. Ronda Stucker, president-elect of The Fort Worth Garden Club, is fascinated by Bratton’s tenacity, dedication and leadership.
“She’s fearless,” Stucker said. “She gets it done in the most elegant way. She’s a team player and a natural leader. She’s omnibrained, both right-brained and left-brained. It’s been a dream working with her.”
Such qualities have made Bratton in demand for Fort Worth’s loftiest volunteer positions.
Although she chose to step away from other responsibilities to focus on the garden club this year, she has said yes in the past to serve in leadership roles for the Van Cliburn Foundation, the Texas Ballet Theater, the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and Fort Worth Country Day School.
That’s a pretty long Cowtown resume for someone who grew up in New York.
Bratton is the only child of the legendary Pete Rozelle, the longtime NFL commissioner whose creative strategies and dealmaking transformed pro football into a national powerhouse.
Rozelle won custody in the divorce from Bratton’s mother, making him the first father to do so in the state of New York. With a laugh and a twinkle in her eye, Bratton says she “was raised by wolves, but they were fun wolves.” She was surrounded by sports greats such as Frank Gifford and Pat Summerall, spending much of her time with her dad at owners’ meetings and at Thanksgiving dinner during halftime.
“Weirdly, I was raised by pretty much all men, but I was girly,” she said. One of her father’s girlfriends taught her the art of setting a beautiful table, which has led to Bratton’s love of entertaining and a china “addiction.”
Her father, credited with launching professional football into the stratosphere, conceived the Super Bowl, oversaw the merger of the NFL and AFL and pushed for football broadcasting contracts. All this happened with Bratton watching, and today she keeps reminders of this life in her Westover Hills home. Tickets from dozens of Super Bowls, a football from the first Super Bowl, the pen used to ink the merger and trophies adorn her cozy home library.
“I’m constantly thinking of what my dad would do in a situation,” she said, sitting among the memorabilia. “A lot of times he’s my moral compass.”
As an only child, she often occupied herself with art, from crayons to paint. When it came time for college, she wanted to major in art, but her dad said, “No way, you’ll starve.” Ultimately, she graduated from Rollins College in Florida with a degree in communications and English. Her career included internships with political families, the Kennedys and the Kemps, a legacy of bipartisanship her father passed down to her. She was eventually hired to work with designer Ralph Lauren in New York during the edgy ’80s, writing everything from press releases to garment hang tags.
She met her husband, Doug, at a party in the Hamptons, and their 1988 wedding was published in the New York Times.
Her art, though, never let go. Bratton’s instinct to say yes to new creative challenges has made her a recognized painter. She maintains a small studio in her home for her watercolors and an off-site studio for her oils. Her impressive portfolio includes high-profile commissions for several Fort Worth entities, private homes and patrons. One of her highest honors was being named the 2024 artist of the year for the Artists Association of Nantucket, held at the Great Harbor Yacht Club. Being a part of the beach town’s artists’ enclave delights her.
“To me, the biggest part is to see the artists I was with,” she said. “I can’t believe I’m a part of that group.”
Thinking of herself as a botanical artist drew her to The Fort Worth Garden Club. Even though many in the club are talented gardeners, she readily admits she is not one of them.
“I’m the only person who can kill mint,” she said. “Remember, my dad put AstroTurf in every Stadium.”
Even so, she has been embraced by the club and her Fort Worth friends.
“She’s a gracious, gracious person and the most organized person I’ve ever been around,” said Kim Darden, a friend and neighbor. “We don’t know where we’d be with Anne Marie Bratton in Fort Worth.”
When Bratton first moved to Fort Worth, she was overwhelmed by how nice people were and how quick they were to share “a little something,” whether it was homemade jelly or mom tips.
She eagerly joined the Southern ways, throwing herself into the Cowtown culture. She has hosted homecoming mum-making for Country Day moms in her pool house, entertained with her collections of fine china for massive dinner parties throughout her home and chaired the first ballet gala at Bass Performance Hall. A crack skeet shooter, she’s joined three book clubs, practices French daily and paints for her just weeks-old granddaughter.
Now, whether it’s tending a garden, painting a landscape or leading an organization, she’s glad for every yes she’s given.
“I wake up every morning and can’t believe I get to do this another day,” she said.