Wenanah "Meme" Anderson

November 2, 1922 – November 12, 2023

Stella Wenanah (Dodd) Anderson, age 101, passed peacefully on the morning of November 12, 2023, in Canton, Texas. She was born November 2, 1922, to John Thomas Dodd and Marion Madge (Pitts) Dodd in Dallas, Texas. Wenanah was one of 6 daughters born to this union and the oldest living to adulthood.

She lived in Dallas near Fair Park for many years during her youth. Her father moved the family to the New Hope community when she was a teenager. She graduated from Mesquite High School in 1939 and later married Thomas Milton Anderson on April 12, 1940. They were married 58 years at the time of his death in 1998. Together, they had one child, John Thomas Anderson, born in May, 1941. He would say he learned to believe he could do anything that he set his mind to because she taught him, he could. The classic story of The Little Engine that Could was the vehicle used to teach this defining characteristic.

Wenanah worked for A. Harris, a department store in downtown Dallas, as a switchboard operator. She later worked for Atlantic Richfield, first as a switchboard operator, and then moved up the ranks to the land department where she became head of the division order department. She remained at ARCO for 35 years until her retirement in 1984.

Wenanah made many lifelong friends. She kept in touch with many of them after retirement, and she shared with some of them her passion for traveling the world.

She was a faithful member of First Christian Church in Mesquite, Texas. She served on the board, in the choir, and in numerous other capacities. She was active in the Sunnyvale book and garden clubs, and many other activities that were social in nature. She loved hosting and attending parties and did so right to the end, attending the veteran celebration at her assisted living residence the day before her passing.

Wenanah is preceded in death by her husband, Bub, parents, John & Madge, sisters Jewell, Gwen, Madean and one unnamed sibling. She is survived by sister, Pat Trimble; son, Tommy Anderson and wife, Jan; granddaughter, Christina Bondesen; grandson, Dan Anderson and wife, Diana; great-grandchildren, Rachel & Nicholas Bondesen; niece Linda Rowell and husband, Jerry, as well as many other nieces, nephews, cousins and extended family.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Grove-Hill.com for the Anderson family.