THELMA LEONA WILLSEY ANDERSON

1924-2016

Thelma Leona Willsey Anderson, 91, passed away peacefully May 24, 2016 at home surrounded by family in Prairie Village, Kansas. She was born September 19, 1924 in Indianola, Iowa, and is preceded in death by her parents Ruth and Harold Willsey, husband Reynold, brother Merrill, and sister Ruby. She is survived by her sister Bernice Pickup, brother Max Willsey, daughter Judith Katterhenrich (David), son Craig Anderson (Deborah), grandchildren Ashley Williamson, Erin Williamson, Matthew Anderson (Christie), Alan Anderson, Lisa Simmermon (Taylor), and their great grandchildren, Emily, Andrew, Mila, Harper, and Jack.

Thelma and Reynold’s love story started when they met at church in Whittier, California, while he was in the army during World War II. They started their life together building their own hardware-feed store with a tiny apartment attached. Selling the business, they moved to northern California to pursue their dream of having a ranch in Acampo. Theirs was the perfect partnership – Thelma had grown up on a large Iowa farm and Reynold was the city kid who dreamed of farm life. Over the course of 50 years, they harvested a fine crop of memories on their twenty acres on Elliott Road as they lived, laughed, raised children and livestock, and constantly worked on decades-long remodeling projects..

Thelma spent her working years looking out for the welfare of a generation of school children. As the Oak View Elementary School school secretary, she was a beloved mentor doing everything from wiping away tears to virtually running the school during the school principal’s extended absence. Later she served at Galt High School as the attendance clerk (truant officer/ social worker) who always went the extra mile to bring reluctant students to school. She and Reynold were active in First United Methodist Church in Lodi. In their middle years they led a popular fellowship group for elderly members, “The Goodtimers.” Their 66 years of devoted marriage and the unconditional love they gave their family was indeed their greatest achievement.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday, June 1 at First United Methodist Church, 200 W. Oak Street in Lodi, California. Committal will be held privately at Cherokee Memorial Park in Lodi. Please sign the online guestbook at http://www.cherokeememorial.com . Thelma and Reynold both dearly loved their stately old church home in Lodi. With this in mind, in lieu of flowers, please donate to the “First United Methodist Church” marking it for the “Window Replacement Fund,” at the church address.

Please sign the guest book at www.lodinews.com/ guestbook.