Gayle Anderstrom, 98, of Vero Beach passed away on Jan. 4.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dale Anderstrom, her parents, siblings and one granddaughter. She is survived by her daughters, Judy (Paul) Hargarten, Joan (Brent) Kehn, Susie Smith, Cheryl (Daryl) Bryer; eight grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren.
Anderstrom was born in Adams, Neb., on Aug. 14, 1915 to Clifford (C.R.) and Eva Caley. She graduated from Springfield, NE High School in 1933 and from the University of Nebraska in 1937 with a major in mathematics and was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority.
In 1938 she married Dale Anderstrom. They resided in Ashton, Neb., from the beginning of their marriage until 1972 at which time they moved to Naples, Fla.,
After Dale Anderstrom’s passing, Gayle Anderstrom moved to Vero Beach where she resided at the time of her death. Beside producing four daughters, Anderstrom taught mathematics and English at Ashton High School, Loup City High School and North Loup High School in Nebraska and also at Naples High School in Florida in the 1970s.
She was a member and Grand Matron of Eastern Star, a member of Palm River Country Club in Naples and remained an active Alpha Chi Omega alum for over 75 years. She was an avid sportster, playing golf in to her 90s and tennis well into her 80s.
In the 1930s she was the first female on the inter-high school tennis team in the state of Nebraska. In the 1950s she took up golf and soon lined her bookshelves with trophy winnings from both sports.
There was no televised sport that escaped her interest. Her favorite was college football. She knew the coaches, the players, the Heisman winners, the greats and not-so-greats through the years and she judged every college team by their history of wins and losses to the Nebraska Cornhuskers. She also loved movies and hardly ever missed an Oscar-nominated movie during her adult years.
Gayle enjoyed duplicate bridge at the Vero Beach Bridge Center until her eyesight failed in the last few years of her life. Being a mathematician, she and her partners had many winning games and she was especially proud of an article about her in the Bridge Center newsletter.
She will be fondly remembered for her razor-sharp memory and regaling listeners with stories of some of her life’s hilarious events.
Memorial donations may be made to Vero Beach VNA Hospice, 901 37th St, Vero Beach, FL, 32960 (www.vnatc.com) where she received such remarkable care at the end of her life. Services are pending interment in Nebraska. Arrangements are by Strunk Funeral Home and Crematory, Vero Beach.
