Funeral service for Martha E. Anderson, 98, Aberdeen, will be 2 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, 2012, at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 214 Seventh Ave. S.W., Aberdeen. Pastor Hyle Anderson and Pastor Nathan Henschen will officiate. Burial following in Sunset Memorial Gardens. Martha entered heaven on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012.
Visitation will be from 1-7 p.m., with family present from 5-7 p.m., with a prayer service beginning at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, at Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home, 1111 S. Main St., Aberdeen.
She was born on the family farmstead southwest of Aberdeen on May 14, 1914, to Carl F. and Rosa E. (Winter) Wendt. She was the oldest of three children. Her mother passed away when she was 8 years old, leaving her father to raise the three children. She attended Brown County rural schools and graduated in 1934 from Aberdeen Central High School after attending her early high school years in Webster.
She married Ray H. Anderson on Dec. 16, 1939, in Aberdeen. They were married for 49 years. This union was blessed with three children, Betty, Sandra and Howard. She was a devoted mother and farm wife. One of her greatest passions was gardening , evident by the size of the garden she tended for many years and the amount of food she preserved each year. For many years, she also enjoyed raising chickens and exhibiting food items at the Brown County Fair.
She was a 4-H leader for 20 years, member of Brown County Extension clubs for 70 years, served on the Brown County Cancer Board for 25 years and was a 64-year member of St Paul's Lutheran Church, where she was active in LWML circles.
Survivors, who will miss her, include daughters Elizabeth "Betty" Knepke of North Platte, Neb., and Sandra Hobart of Pierre; son, Howard (Paige) Anderson of Aberdeen. Grandchildren Alicia (Duane) Brittenham of North Platte, Erin Anderson of Minneapolis, Minn., Ryan Anderson of Conde, Ray Anderson of Aberdeen; and great-grandson, Ethan Brittenham, of North Platte. She is also survived by her sister, Margaret Wickstrom; nephew Richard (Rhonda) Wendt and their daughter, Emily, Ridgecrest, Calif., and nephew Allen (Rebecca) Trask, Deerwood, Minn., and their children.
Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband in 1989; son-in-law Duane Knepke; brother and sister-in-law Fred and Betty Lou Wendt; brother-in-law Elmer Wickstrom; and sister-in-law Myrle Trask and husband, Floyd.
Memorials are suggested to Brown County 4-H Forever or the American Cancer Society.
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