Anita June Andersen Moe

Anita June Andersen Moe was born on March 17, 1936 and died on Saturday, November 18, 2006. Anita was one of four children born to Dan and Wilma (Mutka) Andersen. The family farmed, first in Withee and then in nearby Owen, Wisconsin. Anita was baptized in 1936 at Nazareth Lutheran Church, Withee, Wisconsin and later confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church, Owen, Wisconsin. Anita was graduated from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota in 1958. In 1960 she subsequently received a Master’s degree from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, specializing in child development, courtship and marriage. Anita was a curriculum editor at the National Lutheran Church’s Augsburg Publishing House, in Minneapolis from 1960-1963. She then served on the faculty of the Tufts University School of Nursing in Boston. As such, she was director of a program and nursery for abused children in a dangerous section of Boston. At one point, she served while under a death threat from people opposing her work being done there with families. She served there from 1963-1967 and 1970-1974. From 1967-1970 she was on the faculty of the Anglican School in Jerusalem, Israel. From 1974-1979, Anita was on the faculty of Golden Valley Lutheran College in suburban Minneapolis. Subsequently from 1979-2003, Anita served for some years on the staff of the Board of Education in Washington, D.C. while carrying on premarital and family counseling. On September 5, 1960, Anita married Dean Louis Moe in Bethesda Lutheran Church, Ames, Iowa, the parish he served as a layman prior to entering the seminary. As the wife of a pastor, she also served as hostess and volunteered in many ways over the years in his parishes. She also enjoyed creating many floral arrangements. Living in retirement in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Anita died on Saturday, November 18th after a very brief illness. She will be buried on December 9, 2006 in the Moe family plot in Hoople, North Dakota. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dan and Wilma Andersen. She is survived by her husband, Pastor Dean Louis Moe; three siblings, a sister, Alice Socha of Spring Grove, Minnesota, brother John and family of Verona, Wisconsin; and by brother Arthur and family of Ames, Iowa. In lieu of flowers, a memorial can be given to the parishes served by Pastor and Mrs. Moe (Ames, Golden Valley and Washington, D.C.) or to Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota. The resurrection will be celebrated at Triumphant Love Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas on Tuesday, November 28, at 11:00 a.m. A second celebration of resurrection will be held at First Lutheran Church in Hoople, North Dakota, followed by burial of her ashes in the family plot in Hoople Cemetery. Obituary and guestbook online at wcfish.com