January 8, 1943 – August 20, 2022
Sheila Marie (Richter) Anderson peacefully transitioned from this life on August 20th, surrounded by her loving family, after a joyous life full of many fun adventures. She was so thankful to have the opportunity to spend her last year doing things she enjoyed and reminiscing about her life that began on the family farm in Fall City, Washington, where she, her three siblings and four cousins lived simple, hard-working, meaningful lives. After graduating from Tolt High School, Sheila worked briefly in Seattle before marrying Swede in March 1963. Children soon followed, and their family was complete by 1966 when their third daughter was born. They raised their young family in Issaquah until 1973, then returned to Swede’s childhood home in Carnation where they remained until 2016 when they moved to Skagit Valley to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
Parenting and keeping the family home brought Sheila much happiness and she was thankful that throughout her life she was able to create a gathering place where all were welcome, and homemade entrees were often on hand. She was known for her exceptional meals and baking abilities, especially during the holiday season when she would plan the menu several months in advance. She was very resourceful and for many years canned, sewed, crafted, gardened, wall-papered and painted the homes of her immediate family. After the girls moved on to college, she eventually went to work for Boehm’s Candies in Issaquah where she worked for several years to fulfill their store orders and enjoyed being an honorary taste- tester. Later in life, her primary hobby became genealogy research where she spent countless hours online and traveled to many libraries, archives and cemeteries to locate and clean forgotten gravesites, verifying them for accuracy with other historical records.
Sheila is survived by her husband of over 59 years, Norris (Swede) Anderson, brother Corbet Richter (Joanne), sister Barbara Richter, sister-in law Mary Kell; daughters Tracy Sager (Randy), Christine Anderson, and Laurel Anderson; grandsons Hank Sager, John Sager, and Logan Heeringa, and granddaughter Katrina Tronson (Ken), and their children Zayne and Payton. She also leaves behind many dear cousins, nephews, nieces, and several other life-long, and more recent, friends. She was predeceased by her parents Samuel and Amelia Richter, brother Dean Kell, and nephew Michael Boratino.
The family extends their sincerest appreciation to the entire staff at the Skagit Cancer Care Center, where her care under Dr. Kojouri was truly superb, making her past year as meaningful as possible. We also thank the many loved ones and neighbors for the kindnesses shown to Mom since her cancer returned.
A gathering to celebrate Sheila’s life will be held on Saturday, September 3rd beginning at 11:00 at the Snoqualmie Falls Forest Theater and Family Park, located at 36800 SE David Powell Road, Fall City. Please bring camp chairs and respect the surroundings while navigating your way into this private park. Her final resting place will be the Tolt Cemetery.
