Helene ANDERSON, aged 97, slipped away peacefully into eternity after her evening bowl of soup, a phone call to a child, a silent prayer, and a glimpse of Doctor Phil on the tube.
Helene was born Helen Lindell FLETCHER in Hoquiam, Washington, the daughter of Helen THOMAS, a school teacher, and Homer FLETCHER, a farmer, baseball player, greeting card businessman and a musician (trombone) in the San Diego Symphony.
Her parents returned to Gilroy in her early youth, where she grew up on a prune ranch inherited by her mother. Her younger brother Stuart lived on the Gilroy homestead all of his life; he had a wife, two children (Scott and Wendy) and interests in multiple businesses, including prune ranching.
Helene worked in the orchards, went to school in Gilroy, then matriculated to Pomona for her first college year, followed by four years at U.C. Berkeley, from which she graduated in 1929.
She married her one and only husband, Gus ANDERSON, in 1935 and taught for several years in Nevada (Lovelock), and in central California (Folsom) before temporarily retiring to have her three children, Bill, Karen and Helen, while Gus worked for Safeway, Kaiser Steel, Aerojet General and Bechtel as a civil engineer.
She returned to teaching after Helen was born and taught in Berkeley and later in San Francisco school libraries after earning a Masters Degree in Library Science in her fifties. She lived in Berkeley for virtually all of her married life, first near the UC campus and then in the house Gus built on Poplar Street in north Berkeley in 1948.
Helene was devoted to her family, including three children (Bill Anderson and his wife Julie; Karen Novakovich and her husband Vaso; and Helen Bauer and her husband Pat); 10 grandchildren (Mara Anderson McDermott; Gina Anderson Barta; Alena, Ben, and Luke Anderson; Sasha Novakovich-Moorthy, and Nada Novakovich Rhode; Nick, Elizabeth and Sarah Bauer), and 3 great-grandchildren (Max Barta, Zack Barta, and Miles Rhode).
Gardening, reading, cooking and corresponding with a large number of friends, relatives and former students took all of her free time.
She had a wonderful sense of family unity; she had traced her roots on one side to England and Scotland in the 16th century. DAR records suggest at least two ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, including one in the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown. One great grandfather, Massey THOMAS, came to California from Missouri in 1849, left, and returned a few years later with his wife and 10 children to settle permanently in Gilroy on land acquired via the Homestead Act. The ancestry of Massey's wife, Phoebe BANE (allegedly related to Lyndon Baines Johnson), was traced to 12th century France, Scotland, Ireland and then to America in 1730, at first in Virginia and then in Missouri, where they married and established "The House of Thomas" which still persists today, albeit scattered around the globe.
Gus died in 1988, and since then she stayed strong as the center of the family, even as her own health began to decline. Always concerned with the travails of her progeny, piously attentive to the critical murmurs of Gus's ghost, she all but ignored various medical problems, including four hip replacements, two intestinal surgeries, cardiac problems, pneumonia, and finally stomach cancer, all of which she faced with remarkable equanimity. To the end she maintained her mental clarity, her sense of humor and her uncomplaining acceptance of life, its gifts, its disappointments and its end.
She leaves a legacy of loyalty, perseverance, gratitude, modesty and appreciation, all of which she would credit to her genes, which she cheerfully honored, and to her faith, which she quietly treasured.
Helene was born Helen Lindell FLETCHER in Hoquiam, Washington, the daughter of Helen THOMAS, a school teacher, and Homer FLETCHER, a farmer, baseball player, greeting card businessman and a musician (trombone) in the San Diego Symphony.
Her parents returned to Gilroy in her early youth, where she grew up on a prune ranch inherited by her mother. Her younger brother Stuart lived on the Gilroy homestead all of his life; he had a wife, two children (Scott and Wendy) and interests in multiple businesses, including prune ranching.
Helene worked in the orchards, went to school in Gilroy, then matriculated to Pomona for her first college year, followed by four years at U.C. Berkeley, from which she graduated in 1929.
She married her one and only husband, Gus ANDERSON, in 1935 and taught for several years in Nevada (Lovelock), and in central California (Folsom) before temporarily retiring to have her three children, Bill, Karen and Helen, while Gus worked for Safeway, Kaiser Steel, Aerojet General and Bechtel as a civil engineer.
She returned to teaching after Helen was born and taught in Berkeley and later in San Francisco school libraries after earning a Masters Degree in Library Science in her fifties. She lived in Berkeley for virtually all of her married life, first near the UC campus and then in the house Gus built on Poplar Street in north Berkeley in 1948.
Helene was devoted to her family, including three children (Bill Anderson and his wife Julie; Karen Novakovich and her husband Vaso; and Helen Bauer and her husband Pat); 10 grandchildren (Mara Anderson McDermott; Gina Anderson Barta; Alena, Ben, and Luke Anderson; Sasha Novakovich-Moorthy, and Nada Novakovich Rhode; Nick, Elizabeth and Sarah Bauer), and 3 great-grandchildren (Max Barta, Zack Barta, and Miles Rhode).
Gardening, reading, cooking and corresponding with a large number of friends, relatives and former students took all of her free time.
She had a wonderful sense of family unity; she had traced her roots on one side to England and Scotland in the 16th century. DAR records suggest at least two ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, including one in the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown. One great grandfather, Massey THOMAS, came to California from Missouri in 1849, left, and returned a few years later with his wife and 10 children to settle permanently in Gilroy on land acquired via the Homestead Act. The ancestry of Massey's wife, Phoebe BANE (allegedly related to Lyndon Baines Johnson), was traced to 12th century France, Scotland, Ireland and then to America in 1730, at first in Virginia and then in Missouri, where they married and established "The House of Thomas" which still persists today, albeit scattered around the globe.
Gus died in 1988, and since then she stayed strong as the center of the family, even as her own health began to decline. Always concerned with the travails of her progeny, piously attentive to the critical murmurs of Gus's ghost, she all but ignored various medical problems, including four hip replacements, two intestinal surgeries, cardiac problems, pneumonia, and finally stomach cancer, all of which she faced with remarkable equanimity. To the end she maintained her mental clarity, her sense of humor and her uncomplaining acceptance of life, its gifts, its disappointments and its end.
She leaves a legacy of loyalty, perseverance, gratitude, modesty and appreciation, all of which she would credit to her genes, which she cheerfully honored, and to her faith, which she quietly treasured.
Helene ANDERSON, aged 97, slipped away peacefully into eternity after her evening bowl of soup, a phone call to a child, a silent prayer, and a glimpse of Doctor Phil on the tube.
Helene was born Helen Lindell FLETCHER in Hoquiam, Washington, the daughter of Helen THOMAS, a school teacher, and Homer FLETCHER, a farmer, baseball player, greeting card businessman and a musician (trombone) in the San Diego Symphony.
Her parents returned to Gilroy in her early youth, where she grew up on a prune ranch inherited by her mother. Her younger brother Stuart lived on the Gilroy homestead all of his life; he had a wife, two children (Scott and Wendy) and interests in multiple businesses, including prune ranching.
Helene worked in the orchards, went to school in Gilroy, then matriculated to Pomona for her first college year, followed by four years at U.C. Berkeley, from which she graduated in 1929.
She married her one and only husband, Gus ANDERSON, in 1935 and taught for several years in Nevada (Lovelock), and in central California (Folsom) before temporarily retiring to have her three children, Bill, Karen and Helen, while Gus worked for Safeway, Kaiser Steel, Aerojet General and Bechtel as a civil engineer.
She returned to teaching after Helen was born and taught in Berkeley and later in San Francisco school libraries after earning a Masters Degree in Library Science in her fifties. She lived in Berkeley for virtually all of her married life, first near the UC campus and then in the house Gus built on Poplar Street in north Berkeley in 1948.
Helene was devoted to her family, including three children (Bill Anderson and his wife Julie; Karen Novakovich and her husband Vaso; and Helen Bauer and her husband Pat); 10 grandchildren (Mara Anderson McDermott; Gina Anderson Barta; Alena, Ben, and Luke Anderson; Sasha Novakovich-Moorthy, and Nada Novakovich Rhode; Nick, Elizabeth and Sarah Bauer), and 3 great-grandchildren (Max Barta, Zack Barta, and Miles Rhode).
Gardening, reading, cooking and corresponding with a large number of friends, relatives and former students took all of her free time.
She had a wonderful sense of family unity; she had traced her roots on one side to England and Scotland in the 16th century. DAR records suggest at least two ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, including one in the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown. One great grandfather, Massey THOMAS, came to California from Missouri in 1849, left, and returned a few years later with his wife and 10 children to settle permanently in Gilroy on land acquired via the Homestead Act. The ancestry of Massey's wife, Phoebe BANE (allegedly related to Lyndon Baines Johnson), was traced to 12th century France, Scotland, Ireland and then to America in 1730, at first in Virginia and then in Missouri, where they married and established "The House of Thomas" which still persists today, albeit scattered around the globe.
Gus died in 1988, and since then she stayed strong as the center of the family, even as her own health began to decline. Always concerned with the travails of her progeny, piously attentive to the critical murmurs of Gus's ghost, she all but ignored various medical problems, including four hip replacements, two intestinal surgeries, cardiac problems, pneumonia, and finally stomach cancer, all of which she faced with remarkable equanimity. To the end she maintained her mental clarity, her sense of humor and her uncomplaining acceptance of life, its gifts, its disappointments and its end.
She leaves a legacy of loyalty, perseverance, gratitude, modesty and appreciation, all of which she would credit to her genes, which she cheerfully honored, and to her faith, which she quietly treasured.
Helene was born Helen Lindell FLETCHER in Hoquiam, Washington, the daughter of Helen THOMAS, a school teacher, and Homer FLETCHER, a farmer, baseball player, greeting card businessman and a musician (trombone) in the San Diego Symphony.
Her parents returned to Gilroy in her early youth, where she grew up on a prune ranch inherited by her mother. Her younger brother Stuart lived on the Gilroy homestead all of his life; he had a wife, two children (Scott and Wendy) and interests in multiple businesses, including prune ranching.
Helene worked in the orchards, went to school in Gilroy, then matriculated to Pomona for her first college year, followed by four years at U.C. Berkeley, from which she graduated in 1929.
She married her one and only husband, Gus ANDERSON, in 1935 and taught for several years in Nevada (Lovelock), and in central California (Folsom) before temporarily retiring to have her three children, Bill, Karen and Helen, while Gus worked for Safeway, Kaiser Steel, Aerojet General and Bechtel as a civil engineer.
She returned to teaching after Helen was born and taught in Berkeley and later in San Francisco school libraries after earning a Masters Degree in Library Science in her fifties. She lived in Berkeley for virtually all of her married life, first near the UC campus and then in the house Gus built on Poplar Street in north Berkeley in 1948.
Helene was devoted to her family, including three children (Bill Anderson and his wife Julie; Karen Novakovich and her husband Vaso; and Helen Bauer and her husband Pat); 10 grandchildren (Mara Anderson McDermott; Gina Anderson Barta; Alena, Ben, and Luke Anderson; Sasha Novakovich-Moorthy, and Nada Novakovich Rhode; Nick, Elizabeth and Sarah Bauer), and 3 great-grandchildren (Max Barta, Zack Barta, and Miles Rhode).
Gardening, reading, cooking and corresponding with a large number of friends, relatives and former students took all of her free time.
She had a wonderful sense of family unity; she had traced her roots on one side to England and Scotland in the 16th century. DAR records suggest at least two ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, including one in the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown. One great grandfather, Massey THOMAS, came to California from Missouri in 1849, left, and returned a few years later with his wife and 10 children to settle permanently in Gilroy on land acquired via the Homestead Act. The ancestry of Massey's wife, Phoebe BANE (allegedly related to Lyndon Baines Johnson), was traced to 12th century France, Scotland, Ireland and then to America in 1730, at first in Virginia and then in Missouri, where they married and established "The House of Thomas" which still persists today, albeit scattered around the globe.
Gus died in 1988, and since then she stayed strong as the center of the family, even as her own health began to decline. Always concerned with the travails of her progeny, piously attentive to the critical murmurs of Gus's ghost, she all but ignored various medical problems, including four hip replacements, two intestinal surgeries, cardiac problems, pneumonia, and finally stomach cancer, all of which she faced with remarkable equanimity. To the end she maintained her mental clarity, her sense of humor and her uncomplaining acceptance of life, its gifts, its disappointments and its end.
She leaves a legacy of loyalty, perseverance, gratitude, modesty and appreciation, all of which she would credit to her genes, which she cheerfully honored, and to her faith, which she quietly treasured.
