Obituary of Shirley Anderson

Shirley (Walcutt) Anderson of Blanchard, MI age 94, died November 3, 2018, surrounded by the love of her family. Visitation will be held on Wed., November 7, 2018 from 4:00 – 7:00 PM at the Sylvester Community Church, 5 Mi. Rd., Mecosta.  A Funeral Mass will be held Thurs., November 8^that 11:00 AM at St. Michael Catholic Church in Remus with Father Tom Boufford as celebrant.  A visitation will again be held from 10:00 – 11:00 AM just prior to the service.

Born August 18, 1924, she was the oldest of nine children.   She grew up in a large, close, loving family.  She met Carl Walcutt at a dance and they married on November 23, 1944. Their love of dancing filled many a Saturday night.  They had five children, Glenn (Cherie) of Blanchard, Carlene (Bill Dunlop) of Monarch, Montana, Mary Ann (Tom Howard) of Midland, MI, Sally (Sam Houston) of Blanchard and Gale (Nancy) of Barryton.  

Carl died of a heart attack on April 16, 1986.  She married Lawrence Anderson, a wonderful family friend, on November 9, 1998.  We are so thankful to him and his family for their 20 years of happiness and love.  She truly enjoyed her new family, Peggy (Wally Winner) of Williamston, S.C., Priscilla (Chris White) of Blanchard, and daughter-in-law Kim (Paul, deceased) of Blanchard.  There are 23 grandchildren, 48 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great grandchildren with one on the way.

Mom was the best at nurturing – whether it was for one of us or for a stranger.  She raised foster children for awhile.  She was the best cook – always filling the table with dish upon dish – plus being a superb baker making pies, cookies, cakes – she loved making special birthday cakes for the grandchildren.  She made many wedding cakes for neighbors and family.  She was proud of her daughters that they learned to cook and sew and in later years mom and the girls enjoyed the love of quilting together.

Dad worked midnights and farmed during the day so mom would do for us the things that dad couldn’t. Many times she would hook up the horse trailer and take us to whatever show was that weekend.  She would drop everything- who needs the dishes washed right now? – and take us for a picnic or to the lake to swim in hot weather.

She loved learning new things and worked different types of jobs – an upholsterer in a furniture factory, a secretary at Bollingers in Lakeview, a reporter and human interest writer for the local papers – Blanchard, Edmore, Lakeview, Evart and Big Rapids.  She worked with the Mecosta County Fair Board and was in charge of the fair camping for many years.  She taught 4-H, teaching the usual subjects, sewing, baking, canning, flower and vegetable gardening and anything else that caught her interest.  One year she learned and then taught the club leather crafting.  She started the Black Hills 4-H Saddle Club and in later years she and dad were in a draft horse club and enjoyed many a draft horse Plow Days.  She earned recognition from the county for 50 years of teaching 4-H and one year was Mecosta County’s Homemaker of the Year. However, her greatest love was her husband and her grandchildren.  To her, the stepchildren and grandchildren weren’t “steps”, they were all her family. 

She is survived by her siblings, Mike (Barb) of St. Johns, Joann (Don, deceased) of Grand Ledge, Betty (Bill) of Thermopolis, WY, Sharon (Bob) of Thermopolis, WY, brother-in-law Gary McMillan (Donna, deceased) of Evart, sister-in-law Tanna (Jerry, deceased) of Elko, NV and brother-in-law Joe Vaske (Karen, deceased) of Montevideo, MN. She was also preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Kathryn (Stadtfeld) Doerr and brother, Max.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to God’s Helping Hands or St. Michael’s School. Envelopes will be available at both churches.