Obituary of Alice Laverne Anderson

Alice LaVerne Anderson was born June 5, 1921 to Myrtle (nee Holt) and Martin Thingvold. Raised and educated in South Minneapolis, Alice considered Minnehaha Park her playground where she enjoyed playing and hiking along the Mississippi River. Her family weathered The Great Depression like many: barefoot through the summers, food grown in their garden, and a mother who sewed lovely clothes for her children, often from used garments. In June of 1944, Alice proudly enlisted, was sent to the Iowa Training Camp and served in several cities throughout the United States, working with the early generation of computers that tracked U.S. troops’ locations around the world. She was honorably discharged on January 6, 1946. On November 1, 1946, Alice and Ralph Anderson were joined in marriage by the Reverend Thompson. They built their first home in Crystal, Minnesota where they raised their daughters Lynn and Janice and lived for fifty-eight years. Faith in God was most important for Alice. She completed two courses at the Lutheran Bible Institute and was very active in their church home-St. James Lutheran in Crystal-since it was established in 1957. She taught Sunday school and Bible School for many years, served with the Altar Guild and Mission Society, and along with her husband Ralph, worked with confirmation students. Alice was a details-oriented person, whether it was the designing, painting and sales of her personalized folk art; collecting and selling antiques; or organizing family vacation. Itineraries, for their long adventures along America’s old highways and small towns, were meticulously planned and budgeted. Eventually, the love of travel carried Alice and Ralph abroad: Scandinavia, Europe, and twice to China. They enjoyed twenty-four cruises to five continents. In addition to their travels, Alice and Ralph enjoyed many wonderful years filled with music and dancing at the Medina Ballroom, in Medina, Minnesota. On weekends, they joined their many friends from Northern States Power Co.-where Ralph was employed-and danced the nights away. Alice and Ralph joined the Westphal American Legion Post #257 in Robinsdale, Minnesota where they both served as Post Commanders-and Alice was its first lady commander. Their activities took them across the United States to American Legion National Conventions where they enjoyed reconnecting with their many Legion friends. Because of their military service, both Alice and Ralph were guests at the WWII Monument dedication, on May 29, 2004, in Washington D.C. An artist model was made of Alice and had been, at one point, considered to be installed in the D.C. WWII Monument. In 2007, Alice and Ralph moved to Pocatello, Idaho where their daughter Janice and son-in-law Steve lived. They enjoyed the smaller community, the people, music venues, and activities of their grandchildren. In 2011, they moved to Owasso, Oklahoma, where their daughter Lynn and son-in-law Joe live. Here, they were able to enjoy a new community and see their four great-grandchildren more often. Alice is survived by her loving husband Ralph, of 70 years; daughters Lynn (Joseph) Brausen of Collinsville, Oklahoma; Janice (Stephan) Anderson of Pocatello, Idaho; grandchildren: Joe (Shantelle) Brausen; Jenny Rich; Ruth (Tyson) Trieger; Neal Anderson; great-grandchildren: Nathan Rich, Caleb, Ethan, and Ella Brausen, and Willa Trieger. She is also survived by her brothers Norman Thingvold of La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Martin Thingvold of Corvallis, Oregon, nieces, nephew and cousins. Until 2016, they continued to travel to Idaho and Nevada to visit and enjoy special occasions with their grandchildren and newest great-grandchild, Willa Trieger. Alice’s family will always cherish the memories of the extraordinary care and love she gave.