Helen C. Anders, 93

Helen C. Anders, 93, passed away Thursday, July 2, 2009, at her hospice residence in Kirkland, Wash.

Helen was born on June 14, 1916, in Oldham S.D., to Rev. Andrew K. and Belle Lundy Gaard. She grew up in Slater, Iowa, where her father was a Lutheran pastor, and graduated from high school in Cylinder, Iowa.

Helen attended Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. There, she met a handsome young music student named Wilbur Anders. The two of them transferred to St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., and after graduation they were married in Cylinder, on July 30, 1939.

Helen and Wilbur relocated to Bozeman where the two of them began their lifelong vocation as dedicated schoolteachers. In Bozeman, their son Jon was born in 1943.

They also lived in Washington state for several years before returning to Montana in 1957, where they began teaching at Bigfork High School. It was here that their daughter Deborah was born in 1958.

Helen taught English for 23 years before retiring in 1980.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Harlan; and her husband, Wilbur, who passed away in 1990.

Helen is survived by her children, Jon Anders, and wife, Nukhet, of Hamilton, and Deborah Eliasen and husband, Mark, of Kirkland; grandchildren, David Anders of New York City, Deniz Anders of Seattle, and Anders and Morgan Eliasen of Kirkland.

Helen will be laid to rest at 1 p.m. Thursday, July 9, at the C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery in Kalispell. Arrangements are under the care of Buffalo Hill Funeral Home.

Friends are encouraged to visit the Web site www.buffalohillfh.com to leave condolences for the family.