Phyllis Juliet Anderson Ufer's Obituary
Phyllis Juliet Anderson Ufer
Age 98 ½ died peacefully on July 1, 2014, at Tacoma Lutheran Home. She was born October 7, 1915, the second of six children of Anton and Thea Anderson, in Berg, North Dakota. She was invited by her aunt and uncle, Jean and Julius Anderson, to attend the University of Washington in Seattle, from which she received a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics degree in 1938. She taught high school in Reardan, Prosser, and Puyallup WA. She met the new Lutheran pastor, Karl Ufer, in Reardan in 1939 and they were married in Seattle in 1945 after Karl returned from service in WWII. From 1946 to 1972, Karl served parishes in Reardan WA, Dallas OR, and Pullman WA. In 1972 Phyllis and Karl moved to Spokane, where Karl was Assistant to the Bishop of the Northwest District of the American Lutheran Church. He retired in 1978 and died in 1981. Phyllis continued to live in Spokane and was active at Emmanuel Lutheran Church. She cared for her aunt, Jean Anderson, and traveled to the family home on Guemes Island, to North Dakota, and abroad.
In 1993 she moved from Spokane to Tacoma Lutheran Home where she enjoyed hosting coffee hours for TLH residents, making lefse, recycling her fabric collection into quilts and walker bags, hardanger embroidery, and travel.
Phyllis was proud to come from parents who homesteaded in North Dakota and treasured the closeness of her family. A highlight came in 2013 when her only granddaughter was married in Tacoma and many Anderson and Ufer relatives attended. She was a role model all her life as a woman who maintained her independence while caring for others and she traveled through life with grace, humor and strong faith.
She is survived by her children, Steven Ufer and wife, Valerie, of Lakewood WA, Sharon Lavell and husband, Paul of Lakewood WA, granddaughter Kristina Ufer Ngai and husband, Jeffrey, and by her sister Alice Olsen and brother Gerald Anderson. The family wishes to thank “Visiting Angels” for their compassionate care of Phyllis this June, and the staff of Assisted Living Unit at Tacoma Lutheran for their loving care and presence in Phyllis’s life for the past two years. A memorial service is being planned. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be given to Tacoma Lutheran Retirement Community Foundation (TLRCF).
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