The good Lord finally came to take me to my loved ones.  I have been looking forward to this for a long time. As I have told all that will listen to me, I had the most wonderful life anyone could ever imagine.  I was the luckiest person, blessed with loving encouraging parents, a husband who was so wonderful to me and our family, four amazing sons, four beautiful daughters-in-law, 12 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren. I was so fortunate to live my life during the greatest time in history and enjoyed the many advantages the greatest country in history provides to its citizens. And best of all, my daughter-in-law helped me find the Lord.

I was born on September 12, 1926 to two German immigrant parents, George and Emilie Fiedler, who loved me, encouraged me and taught me how to be a good hard-working citizen. We lived in Chicago in a neighborhood of primarily German and Scandinavian immigrants.  Most of my childhood was during the Great Depression while World War II played out during my college years.  Although these were difficult times, my parents and our community were very happy and satisfied with what we had and the fact we were in America. I look back on those times as very special and have so many stories and memories that, I am sure, my children and grandchildren are tired of hearing.

My parents doted on me, as I was an only child. They ensured I had nice clothes, delicious meals and inspired and motivated me to be a good student and musician. I was so proud, as were they, when I won high honors at the Chicago Music Festival, at the age of 16, singing in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 at Chicago’s Soldier Field. That feat helped me earn a scholarship to Rochester’s Eastman School of Music.   I was often the featured singer at clubs in Chicago such as the Germania Club and traveled around America with a theatre group preforming the musical Oklahoma.

I met my good-looking Greek, who would become my husband, at Kelvyn Park High School where I would often see him sitting in the theater watching me during choir practice.  George Anast was a standout basketball player and captained our high school team that won the Chicago City League Championship.  He won a basketball scholarship to DePaul University, but soon after enrolling, joined the Navy and spent two years in the Pacific theater on a destroyer.

After the war we were married and started our life together.  We finished our education and left the Windy City following Horace Greely’s advice - go west. We loved the west after our honeymoon to the western US and Canada and spent the rest of our lives here. We lived in Spokane, Sacramento and finally moved to Broomfield CO in 1957.

We bought a new house in Broomfield’s first filing and set down our roots with two sons (Dean and George) in tow and the third (Kurt) ready to arrive. George worked as an auditor at the Air Force Finance Center and I taught school in and around Broomfield.  Many of today’s 60 and 70 year-old native Broomfieldites might remember Mrs. Anast at Kohl School, where I taught 6th grade until our last son (Tony) was born in 1968.

Our boys all graduated from Broomfield High School and ventured out on their own, eventually getting married to four unbelievable ladies: Linda Walford (Dean), Penny Turpen (George), Cindy Mundt (Kurt) and Marjorie Vela (Tony).  All in all, they managed to provide us with 12 grandchildren that would frequently visit and enjoy Grandma’s cooking.

George and I traveled the world after we retired.  We would plan our next trip as soon as we got back from our last. When we were home, our house on Coral Way was filled with the laughs and excitement of grandchildren who had to visit before we left for our next trip. Life was good!

Our marriage would last 65 years until 2013 when George, the love of my life, passed away.  I was always his sweet heart and his final concern was that I would be OK once he left this world. Our sons made sure I was OK after he left. They took care of all my needs and Meg worked so hard to help me with my final journey.

It’s been a long, fun, rewarding life that has passed by so quickly.  I wish I had more time to tell you more details of my wonderful life, but I have loved ones waiting and I can’t wait to meet them again. Enjoy your life.