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OBITUARIES
Gudmundson, Sophia Anderson
1905 - 2003
Sophia Anderson
Gudmundson, aged 97, passed away March 1 after a short illness
at the home of her daughter in Goleta, CA. She was born in 1905
in the home of her parents, pioneers Erick and Gertrude Anderson,
in the little white house at the western end of Benson Road. She
was preceded in death by her husband Walter in 1986 and by her
sister Theadora A. Cruickshank in 1994.
She is survived
by her daughters, Karen and husband Gerald Berger of Ann Arbor,
MI and Judith and husband Truman Nybakken of Goleta, CA. Grandchildren
include Eric and Warren Nybakken of CA, Hillary Berger of London,
England and Jason Berger and wife Maureen of MI. Great grandson,
Joshua Nybakken is serving in the U.S. Army.
Soph grew
up in Point Roberts and attended school there through the 8th
grade. During her childhood, she formed a life-long friendship
with Elsa Thorstenson-Piper. High school meant boarding with relatives
in Seattle. For this she took the steamship Tulip to Bellingham,
then the train on to Seattle. During the summer she worked at
the old APA cannery at Lily Point.
In 1928 she
graduated from Bellingham Normal School (WWU) and had her first
teaching job in a one-room school in Chinook, MT. She also taught
several years in the Mt. Baker and Point Roberts school districts.
In 1937 Soph
married Walter and they immediately moved into their home on Alderwood
Avenue, which was to remain the family home for over 60 years.
During the 40s and 50s Soph was active in the Birchwood School
PTA and the Birchwood Garden Club. She was a founding member of
Freya, an Icelandic woman’s education group. She was also a 50
year member of Maple Leaf chapter of Eastern Star. Soph very much
enjoyed traveling, having driven her Model A Ford to California
with her girlfriends in the 20s. Another highlight was the 1981
trip to Iceland with her family to visit relatives and ancestral
homes. Soph was also an avid gardener and reader, and loved to
dance and crochet.
In 1992 Soph
moved to the home of her daughter, Judy, at 467 Kings Way, Goleta,
CA where she thrived in the love and surroundings of her extended
family.
Memorial
donations may be made to Trinity Community Lutheran Church, APA
Road, Point Roberts, WA, or to your local hospice organization.
Interment
of ashes will be at a later date at the Point Roberts Cemetery.
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