Rachel Ann Mendenhall Anderson, born Feb. 21, 1938, died Tuesday, Jan. 4. She was born in Richmond, Utah, the second child to A. J. and Louise Corless Mendenhall, and died in Evanston.
Rachel was raised on a dairy farm, where she worked hard and learned to milk cows, haul hay and any other required chore.
After graduating from North Cache High School in 1956, she graduated three years later from the Idaho Falls Latter-day Saint School of Nursing. In 1983, she received her bachelor’s degree in nursing from Westminster College in Salt Lake City.
She worked as a nurse for over 38 years, mostly in small rural hospitals. In the ’70s and ’80s, she spent some time as a traveling nurse in Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.
Rachel loved to travel by car, plane or boat. She loved having tea parties with friends and nieces and nephews. She loved a good party and gathering. Many have enjoyed her fun-loving personality. She made beautiful embroidered quilts, many counted-cross stitched wall hangings. Rachel knitted over a hundred leper bandages and donated them to health organizations.
She married Darwin Glenn Anderson and, with his three children — Danny, Mark and Debbie — they added Austin, Joel and Robert Edward.
Healthwise, Rachel had many problems. She had two major brain surgeries, after which she said it had left her with scrambled brains. She had several other surgeries and maladies.
Rachel is preceded in death by her parents; brother and sister-in-law, James and Sherry Mendenhall; sister, Margaret Bennion; and granddaughter, Shandy Anderson.
She is survived by her sons, Austin and Rob Anderson; stepchildren, Danny, Mark and Debbie Anderson; siblings, Joyce (Darryl) Fish, Susan (Spencer) Deiber, Arthur (Pam) Mendenhall and Edward (J’Lene) Mendenhall; grandchildren, Madi and Ty Anderson, and Alek, Rebecka and Darwin Anderson; as well as many nieces and nephews and a multitude of friends.
A viewing will take place at the Crandall Funeral Home in Evanston (800 Uinta St.) on Thursday, Jan. 13, from 6-8 p.m. A graveside service with be held at the Richmond, Utah, cemetery (200 E. and 350 North) on Friday, Jan. 14, at noon. A luncheon will be served at the Fourth Ward building afterward.
The whole world is understaffed right now as well as enduring a pandemic, so be kind and patient and wear a mask.
Online condolences maybe given at crandallfhevanston.com.
