Anita H. Douglas

August 5, 1929 - December 7, 2016

Anita Hedberg Douglas passed away unexpectedly and peacefully at her home in Portola Valley on December 7. Born in Örnsköldsvik in northern Sweden to Conrad and Esther Hedberg, Anita came to the United States at age 22 looking for work and adventure. Within two weeks she found a job with the Scandinavian Travel Bureau in Rockefeller Center, and it was in New York that she eventually met Hugh Douglas of the Arizona branch of the Douglas copper-mining family. They married in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1953 and returned to New York for a year before her husband’s work took them to Turkey and then on to Libya. During that time the couple had three sons. They returned to the U.S. in 1962, eventually settling down in Atherton where Anita had a daughter in 1969. She loved art, travel, cooking, and was an active volunteer in numerous civic organizations, including SWEA, Allied Arts Guild in Palo Alto, where she was due to receive her 50 years of service recognition in 2017, and the Kiwanis. She was known among family and friends for her cooking, especially her Christmas Eve smörgåsbord. She happily passed her recipes on to her children and grandchildren. Anita parlayed her love of travel into her work as a travel agent, establishing her own travel agency in 1984 with a partner until 2004 and then continued working as an independent travel agent thereafter. Anita traveled the world, visiting more than 100 countries. Her most recent trip abroad was to France last June, when she spent two weeks participating in a French language program and then hosting a two-week family reunion in Provence for all 16 members of her immediate family. She was still working up to the day of her passing. Anita is survived by her children Hugh (Amy), Ian (Dany), Craig, and Ann Jessen (Leif); and her seven grandchildren Will, Erik, Ethan, Peter, Anita, Catherine, and Henry; and her brother Sture (Gudrun) in Sweden; her mother-in-law Betty, and sister-in-law Laurenne (Carl). She will be deeply missed for her compassion, wisdom, generosity, ebullient spirit, optimism, graciousness and love of adventure.

A memorial and celebration of her life will be held at Trinity Church, 330 Ravenswood, Menlo Park at 2pm on January 21, 2017.