Mary Lou Anderson passed away peacefully in her home on October 1, 2019 at the age of 92. She was born in Sacramento, California on September 5, 1927, to immigrant parents Manuel Pereira Dias and Amelia Furtado; the only girl and middle child, with two brothers, Bob and Manuel Jr. Known always as Mary Lou, she was fiercely proud of her Portuguese ancestry. After graduating from high school, her work included many years as a duplicating machine operator for the State of California. Mary Lou married a Texan serving in the Navy, Ira Edwin Stockard, who fathered her two children: a son, Dr. John Stockard DDS OAM, who emigrated to Australia in 1974, the following year wedding Stephanie Solling whom he first met while studying dentistry in San Franciso and a daughter, Karen Dawn, who died in 1973 at the age of 19 after a tragic accident. Mary Lou has two grand children, Maxim de Souza Stockard and Vanessa Christina Stockard Wolfenden, both now resident in Australia. Mary Lou has one great-grand daughter, Isobel Sidney Wolfenden. Mary Lou divorced Ira Stockard after sixteen years of marriage and on October 17, 1971, married John David Anderson, who had four children of his own: Larry, Michael, Leta, and Kenny. Mary Lou is predeceased by her parents, brothers Manuel and Bob, daughter Karen Dawn and step-son Larry.
Mary Lou was a member of the Red Hat Society and the Love Group Bible Study. For a time, she was president of Women’s Aglow Fellowship. She attended Capital Christian School and Trinity Life Center and was also an honorary member of Epic Bible College.
Mary Lou was a talented painter and her grand daughter, Vanessa, is now a successful Australian artist. Mary Lou loved to travel and enjoyed animals, both domestic and wild. Friends and family considered her a social butterfly, because she so enjoyed spending her time with other people. Gardening was a favoured pastime; she gave beautiful garden parties and was a superb hostess and cook. She also loved the state and county fairs, art fairs and, of course, the zoo.
A graveside service will be held on Thursday, May 6th at 2:00 p.m. at Mount Vernon Memorial Park, 8201 Greenback Lane Fair Oaks, CA 95628.
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