Anna Mae “Red” Will (Andrews) passed peacefully on Thursday, December 19, 2019, surrounded by family at Gunderson Harmony Care Center. She was 90 years old.
Daughter of Sigmund Chester Andrews and Elsie Daisy Andrews (Bernet), Anna was born in Groton, S. Dak., on March 11, 1929. During the Great Depression, her family moved to Alma, Wis. A lifelong lover of knowledge, she read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica by the time she was in sixth grade. Anna attended Alma High School where she played drums and twirled baton in the band. She also had a part-time job at the local movie theater as an usher and enjoyed the perk of watching the shows for free.
She married her husband Richard, in Alma on January 29, 1948. Together they moved to Chicago while Richard attended optometry school and they subsequently spent time in Ft. Hancock, Tex., and Onalaska, Wis., before settling down and making a home in Holmen, Wis. Anna held several jobs over the years, including a film developer at a local camera shop and was the personal secretary to the president of the La Crosse Cooler Company for 25 years.
Long known for her wit, sass and sense of humor, Anna was forever solving crossword puzzles and loved to read. An avid bowler, she won numerous tournaments and trophies and traveled around the Midwest with her league. She enjoyed playing rap poker, Bingo, watching NBA basketball and was a devoted Green Bay Packer fan.
She leaves behind her daughter Wendy Lynn Will, granddaughters Jennifer Anne Grigg and Gabrielle Elyse Lacher, grandsons Alexander Richard Grigg and Andrew Ian Grigg, his wife Heather Rose and great-grandson, Maximus Robert Grigg. She also helped raise and considered Kurt Hanson, James Schumacher and Betty Dahlen (Krachel); “My kids too, and they still are, and it’s nice to feel like you did something that mattered.”
She was preceded in death by her husband Dr. Richard G. Will O.D., her brothers Robert, James Merlin, and Jesse Allan; sister Betty Lou Hanson (Andrews) and grandson Ethan Will Lacher.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, December 30 at 2 p.m. at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Alma, Wis. As she wished, she will be cremated and laid to rest at the Nelson Cemetery.