Ann (Peckat) Anderson

Ann Peckat Anderson, 91, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, passed away peacefully on March 4, 2022.  Ann was born in a record snowstorm on March 25, 1930, to Walter and Lenore Peckat.

Ann was the granddaughter of Pastor Marcus Wagner, whose wife Emma died young and whose daughter, Lenore (“Noni”), became First Lady of the parsonage.  Ann learned grace-filled hospitality at Noni’s knee and practiced it her whole life long.  It was also at her mother’s knee that she developed a deep and abiding faith in Jesus Christ, who she trusted as her Savior and served as the Lord of her life.  Ann lived in the parsonage of St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church until her senior year in high school, when her grandfather retired from the ministry and the family moved to Riverside, where Ann was voted homecoming queen of Riverside Brookfield High School.

Ann went on to attend Lake Forest College, where she met Henning “Andy” Anderson when the two of them were set up by a mutual friend on a blind date.  Their courtship lasted two years, including a year of separation when Andy was training in California and the couple wrote expressively of their longing to be reunited.  They were married on April 5, 1952, and honeymooned as they drove to California for work, camping along the way.

Ann taught first grade before she and Andy started a family that eventually included three children: Tina (1955), Kathy (1957) and Scott (1960).  Just as Noni’s home was the hub of the wheel for her extended family, Ann’s home became that for her generation.  Ann valued family highly and went to great lengths to bring together relatives both near and far.  Ann’s faith motivated her to invest spiritually in her children’s lives and to be involved in her community and local church.  She hosted Bible Studies and newcomers to the church around her table.  She served the homeless and cherished sound Bible teaching.  Ann and Andy enjoyed hosting family and friends on the boat on Lake Geneva.  Ann loved flowers and went to school for floral design before going to work at Vaughan’s Garden Center in Western Springs to help with college tuition for her children.

Andy preceded Ann in death in 1989.  They were married for 37 years.

Ann strategically invested in the spiritual life of her grandchildren with incentives for Bible memorization at family gatherings.   When asked, “Why do you think your life turned out as it has through the highs and lows of a disabled brother and the deaths of loved ones?” Ann answered, “My life is a result of my grandfather’s prayers.”  Reflecting on her childhood in the parsonage, Ann wrote, “Every evening we, as a family, said a prayer to the Lord before and after dinner, then Grandpa would read a Bible story out of Egermeier’s Bible Story Book, followed by a hymn.” Ann’s family is grateful for such a godly heritage.

Ann is survived by Christine “Tina” (Ken) Moberg of Wausau, WI, Kathryn "Kathy” Neal of Crystal Lake, IL, and Scott (Mary) Anderson of Stevensville, MI, as well as six grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Ann’s name can be made to Immanuel Lutheran Church, 300 Pathway Ct., Crystal Lake, IL 60014.