April 22, 1936 - November 22, 2024
Patricia “Pat” (Phelan) Anderson passed away on Nov. 22, 2024, at Kossuth Regional Health Center in Algona. Prior to her admission to the hospital she had been residing at Homestead in Algona since November 2023, when she and her husband Dave moved there from their acreage in rural Burt.
Patricia Irene (Phelan) Anderson, the daughter of George and Lilith (Rice) Phelan was born on April 22, 1936, in Boone. Pat graduated from Sacred Heart High School in Boone in 1953. While in high school, she took secretarial training classes and began working part-time as a legal secretary at Jordan Law Firm in Boone. She continued to work there full time until her marriage. After a few years as a homemaker and stay at home mom living in Mapleton and then Ft. Morgan, Colo., she returned to work as a legal secretary at McMahon and Castle Law Firm, now McMahon, Stowater, Laddusaw & Buske, in Algona when the family moved to Algona. Altogether, she worked there for over 30 years, taking a few years away at one point to be a stay-at home mom again before returning to continue her legal secretarial career there for several more years.
On June 6, 1958, Patricia “Pat” Phelan was united in marriage to David Anderson at Sacred Heart Church in Boone. This past June, they celebrated their 66th wedding anniversary with a special dinner with family/friends at their acreage. They had two children: John and Laura.
Pat was an active member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Algona serving on various committees/roles including: Altar Guild and the Preschool Board when the preschool was active. For many years she and Dave delivered Meals on Wheels through the church, and she helped plan/participated in World Day of Prayer several times.
In addition to her church related activities, Pat volunteered for 30 plus years at the Kossuth County Food Pantry. She was a member of the BW PEO Sisterhood in Algona for several years and attended the Community Concert Series events often. For several years during their retirement, she and Dave enjoyed traveling to Arizona in January to enjoy the warmer weather and for Dave to trap shoot on the winter shooting circuit there. They always looked forward to seeing/visiting friends while there. For a number of years, she joined friends to exercise at Curves and then Anytime Fitness. She especially enjoyed meeting them for coffee and conversation a few days every week as long as she was able. Some of her favorite hobbies were: reading, completing crossword puzzles and watching college sports, especially ISU and Iowa basketball games. Supporting their grandchildren in their various activities/events while they were growing up was important to her and they attended when they could or followed up with phone calls to check in if they could not.
She was also devoted to their pet family members and enjoyed their love and companionship through the years.
Left to cherish Pat’s memory are her children: John Anderson of Titonka and Laura Anderson Rice (Patrick) of Mt. Juliet, Tenn.; grandchildren, David (Vanessa) Rice of Littleton, Colo., Kristina Rice (Tanner Hinders) of West Des Moines and Jessica Anderson of Philadelphia, Pa.; sister-in-law Joyce Anderson; brother-in-law Ray Moorman; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dave; parents, George and Lilith; sisters, Corine Sudderberg and Rosemary Moorman; daughter-in-law, Allison Anderson; brothers-in-law, Don, John, Robert, Eldon and Paul; sisters-in-law, Mary Louise (in infancy), Glenyce, Sharon and Fonda; nephew, William (in infancy) and niece, Marcia Anderson.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Algona. Services will be livestreamed via Lentz Funeral Home’s Website https://www.hdezwebcast.com/show/patricia-anderson. Visitation will be held on Friday, Dec. 20 from 4 until 7 p.m. at Lentz Funeral Home in Algona and will continue one hour prior to the services at the church on Saturday. Services have been entrusted to Lentz Funeral Home of Algona. www.lentzfuneralhome.com
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials/donations be made to Kossuth County Food Pantry, St. Thomas Episcopal Church or the forest restoration project at Lentz Funeral Home’s website “plant a tree” link.