Joann Anderson

Joann Anderson

Barbara Joann, eldest daughter of Paul Sydow and Lizzie Wilson Sydow was born February 25, 1935 at the home of her cousin Carrie and Louis Reeves at Whiteclay, Nebraska. She passed away at her home in Rushville, on October 27, 2020.

Her family lived at Oglala, SD, where she started school in September 1941. In 1945 the family moved to Rushville, NE, where she finished the eighth grade in 1949. Due to the failing health of her grandfather they moved to Oregon where she finished her freshman and sophomore years of high school. In 1951 they returned to Rushville where she graduated from high school in 1953.

She attended Chadron College for a winter and summer term and took some correspondence courses. She taught for three years in rural schools in Sheridan and Cherry counties.

On April 10, 1959, she married Donald Anderson at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Gordon, NE. To this union they were blessed with four children: Paul James, Richard William, Jogeyne Kae and Donell Haley.

Donald and Joann lived at the Garould Fairhead ranch north of Merriman for 6 ½ years. They returned to the Rushville-Hay Springs area in 1966, where Donald worked for Elmer Prokop for 9 ½ years, then for Conrad Bauer for 8 years.

Donald retired in 1984 and they moved to Rushville. Joann helped her mother clean homes and did a few on her own. In 1987 she started cleaning the Public Library. When the library moved to its present location she started working at the desk, which job she held for twenty-one years. She also worked at the Sheridan County Livestock Café on sale days for twelve years. After her retirement from the library she volunteered at the Sheridan County Historical Society Museum as a hostess.

While they lived at Prokop’s she assisted at the rural school for one year. She served for six years as secretary of the local rural school board. She was, for a time, a member of Farm Bureau and served one year as Woman at Large. She was a member of RSVP which became GIVE. She knitted mittens for the Giving Tree, sweaters for Lutheran Charities and did other volunteer work as a member of GIVE.

She attended Sunday School at St. Paul Lutheran Church and started Confirmation Class in 1947. That was interrupted when they moved to Oregon. After they returned to Rushville she was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in 1952. She taught Sunday School until she was teaching in Cherry County. When the family returned to Rushville she volunteered as a sub Sunday School teacher and taught Vacation Bible School while her three older children were attending. She served her Lord through the Ladies’ Aid in every office and as Christian Growth Chairman and the Chadron Zone LWML as Christian Growth Chairman and Mission Service Director. She served as secretary of the Church council for several terms and served on the Centennial Committee. She also used her talent to make banners for the Church Sanctuary.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents and sister Carol Schleining.

A memorial has been established for St. Paul's Lutheran Church or the Sheridan County Historical Society and donations may be sent in care of Chamberlain-Pier Funeral Home, PO Box 366, Gordon, NE 69343.