May Ethel Anderson, 89, passed away peacefully on Oct. 23, 2023, at Burnett Medical Center Continuing Care Center in Grantsburg, Wisconsin.
May was born on Aug. 19, 1934, in Eureka Center, Wisconsin, to George Arthur and Ethel May (Weaver) Andrewson. She moved to St. Paul at the age of 14 to be a live-in nanny and supported herself through high school and college while working for them. She got a degree in elementary education and taught in both St. Paul and Shafer, Minnesota.
While visiting her mother, she met Gordon Anderson when he came to fix their television. He asked her brother permission to date her and they were married in 1963 at Calvary Covenant Church in Alpha, Wisconsin. She began helping him run the Alpha Store that his father had opened in 1914 and they lived in a small home behind the store. In 1969 their son, David, was born, followed by their daughter, Janelle, in 1972. In 1980, they moved to the main home next to the store that Gordon's parents had built during his childhood.
May continued her passion of teaching by being a Sunday school teacher for many years at Calvary Covenant Church.
Together, Gordon and May ran the store until 1994 when they sold the property to Burnett Dairy and physically moved the family house into Grantsburg just behind the high school. They began their retirement together there until Gordon passed away in 2003. May continued to live in Grantsburg, cherishing her time for reading, gardening, sewing and visits from her children and grandchildren.
May became a resident of Burnett Medical Center Continuing Care Center in 2016 until her passing.
May was preceded in death by her husband of 40 years, Gordon Anderson; her brother, Daniel Andrewson; and sisters, Carrie Ann Holmquist and Betty Jane Andrewson.
May is survived by son, David (Sarah) Anderson; daughter, Janelle (Mike) Jacobson; grandsons, Aaron, Logan and Tyler; brother, Walter Andrewson; along with many nieces and nephews, other relatives and friends.
A graveside service will be held Saturday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m., at Riverside Cemetery in Grantsburg followed by a memorial gathering and visitation for friends and family from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at Calvary Covenant Church in Alpha.
Arrangements were entrusted to Swedberg-Taylor Funeral Home, Grantsburg. Online condolences can be made at swedberg-taylor.com.
