Light Snow, 30° F
A celebration of life for Donna Anderson, a dynamite, 92-year-old Buffalo resident who passed away Thursday morning Nov. 14, 2024, will be held by her family and friends at a later date.
Donna Arva Anderson was born on March 25, 1932, in Loveland, Colorado, to Clark and Dolores Goreham. As a young child she moved throughout the western U.S. with her parents who were crop pickers during the Depression. The family settled in Santa Maria, California where she went to school. She graduated from Santa Maria High School and continued her education in business.
She married Lee Manning, had three children and then divorced. Then she married the flame of her life W. Glen “Andy” Anderson on Jan. 8, 1957. In the early 1960s Andy “lost his mind” and adopted all three children. Andy worked for Texaco as an accountant which had them moving a lot. After relocating several times in Texas, they had enough and moved back to Andy’s homestead and settled in the garden spot of Wyoming, Powell. Andy opened up Anderson Accounting where Donna eventually worked alongside him as the head bookkeeper. Donna also worked as secretary treasurer for the Heart Mountain Shoshone Irrigation District. During this time it allowed her to “indenture her sons” into a job spraying “toxic chemicals” to eradicate weeds. This also gave them the opportunity to “develop their vocabulary” according to the local standard of the other workers.
Donna was a fabulous mother expecting the most of her children (or she would knock them into the middle of next week — which is good because the current week was not going so well). She believed they could accomplish anything that they put their minds to (or else!). She set a high standard that she expected to be followed, but it was nurtured with much love. An “adopted son” Larry Grubbs was also forced into compliance when he joined the clan.
She was a Cub Scout leader, Sunday school teacher when her children were young, and she was very generous (almost to a fault). She was also rodeo queen in Santa Maria, California, and rode her horse, Nancy, in the local parade. Donna and Andy enjoyed activities at the Elks Club, which included road trips to Laramie to watch the Cowboys play and preferably see them win! While living in Cheyenne with her daughter, Roxanne, she loved going to “Thankful Thursdays.” She would often bid way too much, and then would donate the items back for another fundraiser. She was always better at remembering men’s names, rather than women’s names. We think she preferred the men (she most definitely was a flirt!)
Donna is survived by two sons; Rick (Penny) Anderson of Ventura, California; Curt (Geanie) Anderson of Little Rock, Arkansas; one daughter, Roxanne (Tom) Ostlund of Buffalo, Wyoming, and two awesome “adopted sons” Larry (Carol) Grubbs of Billings, Montana; and Steve (Faye) Urbanski of Billings, Montana.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Andy, her parents and one brother.
Contributions to the charity of your choice would greatly honor her generous legacy.
