Obituary of Doreen Anderson

Doreen was born December 11, 1931 in the Bittern Lake area, the third child of August and Ethel Anderson. The family lived there for a few years before moving to the Edberg area to live on a farm her grandfather purchased in the early part of the century. It was here that she spent most of her life. She attended school at Dried Meat Lake and Edberg. Doreen entered the University of Alberta in the fall of 1949 to work toward her Junior "E" teaching certificate. She completed her education degree after several summer school sessions. Her teaching career began in the fall of 1950 in a one room country school north of Donalda called Ibsen. The following fall she moved to Meeting Creek teaching grades 5 and 6 for one year, then another year in the grade 2 and 3 classroom. She began the 1953 term at Edberg School where she taught grade 2 and 3 and eventually grade 1 where she remained until her retirement in 1988. Doreen often commented she wished she would have kept a list of students and anecdotal journal of the amusing tales they told her over the years. Because of her many years in the same school, parents could tell their children they had Miss Anderson as their teacher as well. Doreen lived many years on the home farm with her parents and brother, where she helped with many aspects of farming. After her parents passed away, she assumed the role of homemaker for Allan. She tended her flowers and a large garden each summer, raising and preserving vegetables. Seldom would you find her idle, as she always found something that needed to be done. Because of Parkinson's disease, she had a fall which resulted in a broken hip in the spring of 2011. After a hospital stay, she moved into Bethany Meadows, Spruce Cottage in June of the same year, where she resided until her passing. Her final years were spent in a wheelchair. We often found her folding laundry when we came to visit. She had to be busy doing something but Parkinson's slowly took its toll. Doreen is survived by sisters Audrey Robertson and Enid O'Connor; brother Don (Sharon); nieces and nephews Heather (Doug) Howard, Shane O'Connor, Colleen (Hadley) Hicks, Sheena Anderson, Darcy (Janice) Anderson, Twyla(Darren) Badry; great nieces and nephews Nicole (Peter) Neufeld, Kurt Howard, Dallas Spongberg, Trysta Anderson, Hayden and Seth Badry, Madeline Anderson; great-great nephews Timothy and Elias Neufeld. She was predeceased by parents August and Ethel; brother Allan; nephews Scott and Ladds Robertson and Kelly Anderson; brothers-in-law Ron O'Connor and David Robertson; and great nephew and niece Wyatt and Reegen Spongberg. A funeral service was held on Wednesday, March 21, 2018 at 12:00 noon from the Burgar Memorial Chapel with Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson officiating. Interment has taken place in the Edberg Cemetery. If friends and family so desire, memorial contributions are gratefully accepted to the Parkinson Society of Alberta or to the Edberg Cemetery.