Aayrelle Anderson
Aayrelle Anderson
B
o
rn Aayrelle Easteppe in Friley
,
Arkansas on August
28
,
1920
,
she lived a long,
fulfi
l
ling
l
i
fe as a
teacher
,
Navy
WAVE
i
n
WWII and wonderful mom
.
The Easteppe fami
l
y moved to Canyon
County in the
1
920
'
s establishing
f
arms in the Kuna area and
l
ater northw
es
t of Caldwell
.
As
a 9
t
h
grader, Aayrell
e
adopted a burning de
s
ire to get a college degree and become a school teach
e
r
,
a dream seemingly
imposs
i
ble
in 1934 at the height of the depression
.
She fulfi
l
led that dream by putt
i
ng h
e
r
s
elf through the Col
le
g
e
of Idaho, working
f
or her room
a
nd board
,
and earning a degree in home
e
conomics in 1941. Her
first job a
s
a
teacher fo
llo
wed
at St
a
r h
i
gh school in the fall
.
WWII interrupted Aayrelle's teaching career
when she entere
d
the navy on July 12, 1943, as a WAVE
. S
h
e
l
ov
ed serving her
country and enjoyed
t
ravel
in
g as a Wave Ensign on recruiting duty
.
In ear
ly 1
945
,
while stationed at
Bainbridge
I
sland
,
Washington
,
she me
t
and
f
e
ll
in
l
ove
wi
th L T Meroy (Andy
)
Anderson USNR
.
They were mar
r
ied on May 16, 1945
,
and spent the next
46 years together
.
Andy died in 1990
.
Andy
a
nd Aayrelle
s
e
t
tled in Seattle
i
n 1946
.
Aayrelle r
e
sumed her teaching career after some graduate studies at
the Un
i
vers
i
ty of Washington
.
Th
eir so
n
Andrew
w
as
b
o
r
n
i
n M
a
y
1946
. J
ob opportun
i
ties for Andy moved
t
he
f
amily to Califo
r
nia
,
w
h
e
r
e so
n
A
l
a
n
was born
i
n
1
953
,
t
o Ar
i
zo
n
a
t
hen back to Cal
i
forni
a
in 1961
.
Aayre
l
le continued her teach
i
ng career wi
t
h further graduate studies at UCLA
,
and was certifi
e
d to t
e
a
c
h in every state
.
Andy retired from Hughes A
i
rcraft Co
.
in
1
972 and
t
he couple
r
et
u
rned
t
o Caldwe
l
l
wh
ere Aayrelle
continued teach
i
ng in the classroom and as a
r
eading
s
pecial
i
st
.
R
eti
r
ement years were
filled with trips around
t
he country, salmon fishing on the Washington coast and
ca
mping in their
travel trailer
.
After Andy
'
s death in 1990
,
Aayrelle remained active in numerous c
l
ub
s
and
a
sso
c
iations, playing br
i
dge
,
and always
h
aving a project o
f
some kind going that
usua
l
ly
involved sewi
n
g.
S
h
e
ad
o
red her
grandchildren, Ca
rl
y
,
K
r
istina and Alic
i
a and he
r
grea
t-
grandchi
l
d
r
en Rafi and Nina
.
Sh
e
w
a
s an avid reader
,
lifelong Democrat and a huge BS
U
footbal
l f
a
n
w
i
th a pictu
r
e of Ke
l
len Moore in her room
.
She was sti
ll
doing the dai
l
y crossword
i
n the Statesman unti
l
he
r
death.
She was a woman who accomplished he
r
dream agai
n
st grea
t
od
d
s and was
l
oved and adm
i
red. Family and fr
i
e
nds will tru
l
y miss he
r
.
A funeral service will be held at 12 Noon on
Tuesday, June 26, 2012, at the First Presbyterian Church, 950 W. State St.,
Boise. Burial will follow at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery with Military
Honors by the United States Navy. Funeral arrangements are under the direction
of Alden-Waggoner Funeral Chapel, Boise.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may
be made to the Idaho State Veterans Home Auxiliary or to the First Presbyterian
Church, Boise.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Aayrelle Anderson, please visit our flower store.
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