Valerie Ann Anderson

Valerie Ann Anderson was born the daughter of Hubert and Thelma Luhman in Denver, Colorado in April, 1943. The Luhmans moved to Postville, Iowa (a small town in Northeast Iowa ) in the 1940s, where her father set up and owned a family hotel near downtown. Valerie appreciated music at a young age and took up the piano. She became a very good player by the end of high school and was also an intelligent student, where she was salutatorian of the Postville High School Class of 1961 and also the homecoming queen. Valerie was Christian and grew up as a Presbyterian.

She attended Drake University and earned a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts in 1965. She married attorney Gary L. Anderson in July, 1965 and they resided in Creston, Iowa for two years. She taught High School English in nearby Osceola, Iowa for those 2 years before the two decided to move to Massachusetts, where her husband worked on his law teaching degree at Harvard University. Gary graduated in 1969 and along the way they had their first child, John, in April 1968. She then moved to Columbia, Missouri, where the three resided through 1973 and where her husband took his first position as an Associate Professor of Law. Valerie studied at Stephens College in Missouri and received a degree in organ music, where she became a very good organ player and would play in churches in future years occasionally.

In 1973, she and her husband moved to Knoxville, Tennessee and the University of Tennessee, where they had their 2nd child, Nathan, in June, 1974. Valerie would spend 35 years in Knoxville, where she was an active member of the choir at St. John's Lutheran Church and the women's group, P.E.O. She studied architecture at the University of Tennessee and received a 2nd Bachelor's degree, magna cum laude, in Architecture in 1983. She used her very good English skills and her drawing skills to go into a career as a technical writer in 1985, driving 45 minutes to and from work each day, working in Oak Ridge, Tennessee for nearly 25 years at companies who contracted in security with the federal government.

In 2009, she moved with her husband to Tucson, Arizona to be near her 2 grandchildren. She would join Saint Michael's and All Angels Episcopalian Church, where she was a devoted choir member for many years until she suffered a stroke in 2021. Her husband, Gary was her caregiver after her stroke for over 2 1/2 years until she had to move into a care home in 2024, where she resided until she passed away from natural causes in June, 2025.

She was the author of a excellent satirical, political book written in poetry that was published in October, 2020 that has received very good reviews on amazon.com. Valerie enjoyed poetry, playing the recorder and other musical instruments, spending time with family, reading, choir, and politics!

She was preceded in death by her parents and her husband, Gary Anderson. She is survived by her two sons, John and Nathan Anderson, and her two grandchildren, Daniel and Anita Anderson.

May she always be blessed in Christ's Love