Lynnette Joyce Anderson

Lynn Anderson, age 91, died August 4, 2024, at Walker Place in Minneapolis. Born in 1933, in Grand Rapids, MN, to Viola E. (Mjoen) and Nels P. Olson, Lynn lived her first nine years in the caretaker’ cottage of the Joyce Estate on Trout Lake and attended kindergarten through 3rd grade in Grand Rapids. In 1942, the family moved to Minneapolis, where Lynn’s father worked in a defense plant during the war, and where they welcomed her brother, Dick, in 1943. They returned to Grand Rapids in 1946, and in 1950 moved to Wisconsin Dells, WI, where her parents ran the Coast-to-Coast hardware store. Despite arriving halfway through her high school junior year, Lynn made new lifelong friends in the Dells.

After high school, Lynn began college in Stevens Point, which became her home for nearly 70 years. There she met Bill Anderson, whom she married on April 4, 1954. While raising four children, she worked creatively to give her family a good home, cooking and baking everything from scratch, and learning how to make drapes, refinish furniture, and more. With Bill, she took the family on long camping trips, so they could see the country and visit distant relatives on a budget. At Trinity Lutheran Church, she led women’s circles, edited the newsletter, and sang with friends in the Hummakers, a women’s vocal group. In her 40s, Lynn returned to college to finish her bachelor’s degree. A few years later she found her dream job, as Trinity’s church secretary, a position she held for 15 years. After retiring she became an avid quilter, giving lovely bedspreads, table runners, and hangings to many, leading the Trinity quilting ladies in donating hundreds of quilts to Lutheran World Relief and reaching her personal goal of donating 100 kids’ quilts to a crisis center. She was thrilled to have grandchildren and loved them faithfully. She enjoyed traveling, fishing, crossword puzzles, cribbage, and watching birds at the backyard feeders.

Lynn is survived by her husband, William E. Anderson, her children Greg (Meredith) Anderson, Brad (Nancy) Anderson, Julie (Steve) Schaffner, and Kristy (George) Shaw, and her grandchildren, Thomas Schaffner, Matthew Schaffner, Abigail Anderson, Courtney Meyer, and Kyle Brockman. Lynn’s family is especially grateful for the comfort and care of Park Nicollet Hospice and Walker Place Staff. Memorial donations may be made in Lynn’s name to Trinity Lutheran Church, Stevens Point, WI, or to your favorite charity.