Lois Jane Anderson
July 30, 1943-Aug. 19, 2022
Palo Alto, California
Submitted by Lindsey Anderson Allen

Lois G. Anderson died peacefully on August 19 at her Palo Alto home after a 9 year battle with intestinal cancer. Lois is survived by her loving husband of 55 years, Dr. Edward Anderson; and their two daughters, Britt Anderson (Jesse) and Lindsey Allen (Kevin) and four grandchildren. She is survived by her brother, Russell Gelston (Meade) and niece.

Born in Floral Park, NY, she attended Catonsville High School in Maryland and played field hockey, basketball and tennis. She earned her BS from University of Pennsylvania, where she also met Edward.

After college, she worked as a physical therapist supporting Edward through medical school. The couple moved to California and have been Palo Alto residents since 1971. Lois volunteered in a variety of ways including coordinating the lunchtime art program at her children’s elementary school and creating braille textbooks for blind students for 20 years. She also served on various non-profit boards.

She loved music, theater, art, sewing and knitting. Eventually, she turned her energies to pursue textile artistry and bookmaking with repurposed materials. She created wall pieces and books, as well as functional wear, jewelry, and bags.

Lois also enjoyed tennis, cooking, reading, NYTimes crossword puzzles, the beach, her Nia exercise class and being with her family. She was a generous person with her time, meals and laughter.

Contributions in memory of Lois can be made to the following organizations she loved and supported: Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts, Craft Emergency Relief Fund Plus (CERF+), TheatreWorks, or Stanford Jazz Workshop.

Tags: arts/media