Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Fay J. Andersen passed away peacefully at Rennes East Nursing Home in Peshtigo, WI, on October 2, 2024, at the age of 98. She was born on September 22, 1926, the beloved and only child of the late William and Ruby (Gordon) Heurion.
Fay graduated in 1944 from Marinette High School and held her first job at Western Union Telephone Company. In 1942, while visiting her aunt and uncle in Hinsdale, Illinois, she met a young sailor from Brooklyn, NY. Letters and promises were exchanged during the war and she married Winfield (Andy) Andersen on April 10, 1948.
She raised her family in a Christian surrounding, teaching them the importance of faith. Fay always made you feel special and had a wonderful ability to connect with young people. She nurtured a home full of children, laughter, music and most of all love.
One of her many talents was music and while raising her children, she studied and graduated from the Chicago University Extension Conservatory program for teaching. She became a piano teacher and church pianist for the Evangelical United Brethren Church and continued as pianist and secondary organist at First Covenant Church in Marinette.
She was a charter member of the Sons of Norway and a member of the White Pine Genealogical Society. She loved genealogical research and kept the Gordon family tree updated through the years. She was able to locate Andersen family relatives in Norway through hard work and persistence which lead to a trip of a lifetime with Andy to Oslo, Norway.
Fay was active in the local Covenant Women organization and had a passion for world missions. She served in various leadership roles for the local organization and on many committees at church. She was a current member of Community Covenant Church in Menominee, Michigan.
Fay was a loving daughter, wife, grandmother, great grandmother, friend, neighbor, and a true prayer warrior.
She is survived by her three daughters, Faith White McMillen, Hope (Michael) Hanisch and Charity (Larry) Widrig; her daughters-in-law, Ruth (Becker) Andersen and Sally (Andersen) Likens; five grandchildren, Robb (Katie) White, Max (Katelin) Hanisch, Brandon and Patrick Andersen and Jonathan Andersen; and 3 great-grandchildren, Ava and Stella White and Oscar Hanisch.
In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Winfield; sons, Eric and Scott; and son-in-law, James McMillen.
Visitation will be Saturday, October 19th, at Community Covenant Church, 1123 13th Street in Menominee, MI beginning at 10 a.m. Services will follow at 11:30 a.m. with Pastor Linnea Ek officiating. Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery.
Fay’s family would like to extend special acknowledgement and thanks to her longtime neighbors on Carney Avenue, to the staff at Renaissance Assisted Living and to the caregivers at Rennes East and Unity Hospice. We are so grateful for your friendship, assistance, care, kindness and respect shown to our mom during the last years of her life.
In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been set up to support Fay’s favorite charities.
Hansen-Onion-Martell funeral home is assisting the family.
