Millie (Olson) Anderson, 88, of DeForest, Wis., passed away Dec. 2, 2021. She had multiple complications of deteriorating physical health, and she welcomed her journey into the next world.
Mildred Jeannette Olson was born in 1933, and grew up on a Nashota, Wis., farm, where she internalized the DIY small-town values of personal responsibility and looking out for others. She graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and became a medical technologist in 1950s Minneapolis. She loved the job, and pursued her fascination for science and biology throughout her life. In 1957 she married Paul Richard Anderson, and raised three children, Karen, Eric and Kirk. After the kids were grown, she aided Paul with his business, rather than returning to her medical career.
In 1969, Millie became the first woman to ever hold, or even run for, public office in DeForest, when she was elected to the Village Board. Corrupt politics in school land use policies motivated her to run, and with the help of two other freshman trustees, she lit the fuse for the demise of the “old boys” network," and steered the board toward more open governance.
No one had campaigned for Village Trustee before, but Millie and her supporters delivered fliers to every home in DeForest, put up posters and made hundreds of phone calls. Her posters proclaimed "It's time for a feminine voice to be heard on the Village Board," "Committed to Long Range Village Planning - NOT A TOOL OF THE SPECIAL INTERESTS," and "Vote for 'Thoroughly Modern Millie'" (“Thoroughly Modern Millie” was a popular musical and movie of the time). The village meetings took her away from her three kids, however, and after one term, she stepped down.
She was a devoted mother who taught the children her Nashota values, along with a Norwegian allergic reaction to pride, and her catch phrase, "If you're looking for sympathy, it's under 's' in the dictionary." Millie's home was a warm blanket of stability: it never occurred to the children to wonder whether they were unconditionally loved, or safe, or worth listening to, whether they could trust, or had a future, or were going to college. No question was off limits, no truth was too awkward to explain. She was a deep listener, as a mother, friend and care giver -- you knew she had heard what you had said, that she wasn't just politely "listening" -- and that's what rich conversations and relationships are made of.
Christ Lutheran Church occupied a lot of Millie's life, teaching Sunday School students, teaching Sunday School staff, serving on search committees when a new pastor was needed, participating in Bible Study, singing in the choir, helping with food at funerals, and of course, making lefse (and amazing pies) for the annual church lutefisk dinner.
The world of books was a refuge for Millie; she had a lifelong love of learning, an insatiable intellectual curiosity that she passed on to her kids. She read about theology, archeology, psychology, history, biology, etymology, medieval cultures, anything by the brilliant and fearless Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl, and on and on.
She loved tending to her beloved sprawling rock garden, into her 80s, stopping only after the property was sold. Surprisingly flexible for an octogenarian, she would spring from boulder to boulder like a mountain goat, if mountain goats could stretch and contort their bodies to uproot that last just-out-of-reach garlic mustard weed with opposable hooves. She also enjoyed knitting and sewing, making shirts and dresses for the family, and even a three-piece graduation suit, from scratch.
Millie's default setting was "calm." She never seemed to show fear; she planned for what may come, placed her faith in God, and accepted what came. Her principles weren't ideals she aspired to, they were rules for living, practiced 24 hours a day, even when "inconvenient." She influenced others through actions more than words, and believed we have a responsibility to use our gifts in service to others.
Millie is preceded in death by husband Paul and brother Edward. She is survived by sister Marjorie (Olson) Dehmlow ‘58, brother David Olson, daughter Karen Anderson, sons Eric Anderson ‘80 and Kirk Anderson, and grandson and granddaughter Collin and Maren Anderson. A memorial will be held in the spring or summer at Christ Lutheran Church in DeForest, Wis.
The community was stronger, Millie believed, thanks to Christ Lutheran Church, the DeForest Area Public Library, and the DeForest Area Community & Senior Center. If you are so moved, the family asks that you consider a donation to any of these important institutions in her memory.
"Try to be brave enough to go out and do what people don't expect you to do. Do what is important to you." —from a 2019 interview with Millie in the DeForest Times-Tribune