Vera Pearl Anderson

Pensacola, Florida - Vera P. Anderson, 84, went home to be with her Lord & Savior on June 29, 2022. Vera was of the Christian faith, having committed her life to Jesus Christ as a child at Camp Barakel, a Christian camp in Northeast Michigan.

Vera was born to Ralph & Ruby Heckman Warren in Attica, Michigan on January 8, 1938. Growing up first in Perry, Michigan, and then later in Chesaning. Michigan, Vera graduated from Chesaning High School in 1956.

Vera met her husband, Jesse L. Anderson, Jr., at a youth rally hosted by Genesee Bible Protestant Church in Burton, Michigan, a church that Jesse's father, a Bible Protestant minister, was associated with at the time. Vera was in attendance with Oakley Bible Protestant Church, one of many churches that had been invited to the event that night. Jesse was there on leave from the Marine Corps, and Vera thought that he was SO handsome in his dress blues! When Jesse caught sight of Vera, he inquired as to who she was because, as he expressed it, she was "kind of cute".

Vera and Jesse were united in marriage on August 12, 1958 by Jesse's father, Reverend Jesse L. Anderson, Sr., at the church parsonage.

When Jesse took a job as a Washington, D.C. police officer in 1960, Northern Virginia became Vera and Jesse's home for the next 23 years. Their four children were born during that period of time.

Though primarily a homemaker and stay-at-home mother, Vera did hold a position for a time as the meal planner/cook at a nearby preschool. Later on, she began to watch young children in her home, earning the money to pay the tuition for her four children to attend Christian school.

With a lifelong passion for music, Vera played the drums in her high school marching band because she was known to have good rhythm. She could also play the piano and the accordion.

Able to sing melody or harmony, Vera was a part of the choir in every church in which she was an involved member.

While living in the Washington, D.C. area, Vera attended many, many gospel music concerts, usually enjoying these events with one of her closest friends, Dove Carrico.

In the last years of her life, Vera enjoyed sitting in her recliner, tapping her foot to rousing Polka tunes playing on YouTube or listening to soothing piano pieces on her CD boombox.
Appropriately enough, gospel music from Vera's YouTube playlist was gently drifting across the room when God called her home to Heaven!


If one had ever wondered what kind of gift to purchase for Vera, presenting her with yet another elephant to display in her home would have been more than welcome! If that elephant had happened to come in her favorite color, baby blue, that would have been a huge bonus! Vera's vast elephant collection has been in storage since her move to Florida, but it will soon have a new home with one of Vera's grandsons, who is involved with GOP grassroots politics.

Basically, if you had been buying anything for Vera and you could have gotten it in baby blue, that choice would have made you a winner!

Vera's hostess/cooking skills, combined with Jesse's abundant social skills, created an atmosphere of hospitality in their home as they entertained numerous guests during the years they were married. It was not at all uncommon for extended family members and friends to stay with Vera and Jesse while touring our Nation's Capital, or for a visiting evangelist or missionary to be invited for a home cooked meal while in the area ministering at church.

Vera was a very good cook and received rave reviews and compliments on many of her homemade dishes. However, there was no creation of hers that ever held a candle to the popularity of her tuna salad sandwiches!  They were always a hit at church snack suppers! Fancy White Albacore Bumble Bee Tuna and Miracle Whip were the secret ingredients. Nothing else would do!

After Jesse retired from Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in 1981, he and Vera left the suburban life behind, ready to experience the rural life of Northeast Georgia instead. Moving to Danielsville, Georgia in 1983 with their two youngest children, Vera and Jesse continued to host family and friends in their home. Two ministerial students from Bob Jones University, who served at Bluestone Baptist Church on the weekends, had seats at Vera and Jesse's Sunday dinner table once a month. Once, when a boys' basketball team from Argentina was visiting Athens Christian School, two of the young players stayed overnight with Vera and Jesse. When Jesse served on their church's pulpit committee, Vera made a special, scrumptious dessert for this group of men each time they met at her home.

While Vera was still young and healthy enough to go up and down a ladder, she thoroughly enjoyed giving any room in the house a clean, fresh look with a new coat of paint. Her work was meticulous, easily looking as if professionally done. With loving care, she painted the nurseries of her two local grandchildren before they were born.

Over the course of many years, Vera maintained a quiet ministry of sending meaningful, lovely cards out to multitudes of people. With each card being carefully chosen for whatever the specific occasion happened to be, there is no telling how many people felt loved, celebrated, or encouraged by receiving one of Vera's cards! Never buying cheap cards, she definitely helped keep Hallmark and Christian bookstores in business!

Two years after the death of her husband in 2010, Vera moved to Florida in 2012 to live out the remainder of her years on this earth. Living independently in her own apartment, she was strategically located just a short drive from her most frequented places: her hairdresser, Kelly; Chick-fil-A; and Publix.

During her Golden Years, Vera became an avid Georgia Bulldogs fan! Even when she became a resident of Gator Country, she still remained faithful and true to her beloved Dawgs! Vera proudly used her Georgia Bulldogs cane, and it attracted attention wherever she went! Surprisingly, her special cane only seemed to evoke positive feedback, many times serving as a conversation starter.

There was no point in trying to call Vera while she watched the Dawgs play. She did not want to be disturbed! She rarely missed a game! Vera was even known to schedule her all-important weekly hair appointments around Georgia games!

At some point, Vera began to broaden her horizons by adding other college football games, besides Georgia, to her tv viewing schedule. Expanding her knowledge of college sports even further, Vera started to watch men's basketball games as well. Originally from Michigan, Vera and her sister, Dorothy Filan, who still resides in Michigan, were known to discuss the Michigan State Men's Basketball games when talking on the phone during basketball season.

Vera had always loved to work on puzzles, but her later years gave her much more time to pursue this relaxing hobby. It was not unusual for a puzzle-in-progress to be laid out on a big table in her apartment living room until she finally got it completed. Never intimidated by a puzzle that was difficult or that had an enormous number of pieces, she took the challenge and had put together some monsters in her time! One of these, depicting the Australian skyline, was hung on the wall in her apartment after being laminated and framed. With failing eyesight in her final years, Vera's ability to do puzzles waned until she rarely tried anymore. Her very last puzzle-in-progress was never finished.

Because Vera had taken and stored prolific amounts of photos during the prime of her life, she had spent some considerable time sorting through them, dividing them up, and distributing them later on. Many of the people, who had been a part of Vera's life at one time or another, were blessed by the arrival of a packet in their mailbox, containing pictures of themselves and their loved ones, some of which they had never seen!

Once Vera had internet access in her apartment, a whole new world opened up for her! Embracing technology, she became proficient enough to keep up with family and friends on Facebook, to watch multiple church services on Sunday mornings, and to enjoy all of the music she loved. Most importantly, though, Vera understood just enough about online shopping to peruse all of the latest available styles of Vera Bradley purses whenever she was ready for her next acquisition!

During the last several years of Vera's life, two different elder care agencies assisted her by providing needed transportation, performing light duties, and giving emotional support. A distinct group of ladies, of differing ages and at various stages of life, entered Vera's life at this time, and she truly appreciated their help and enjoyed their companionship. Inevitably, each lady would ask for a tour of her nice apartment, admiring all of the family pictures on the walls along the way. Whenever one of these ladies was still on the clock, but Vera had nothing else that needed to be done, the two would just sit down and relax, each enjoying a Little Debbie cake and chatting together until the time ran out. These opportunities for fellowship provided Vera with quite a few open doors to share her faith and to talk about Jesus. Sometimes Vera would learn that the person sitting across from her was a believer too, her sister in Christ. At other times, Vera's new friend would be curious, asking questions and desiring more information.

God has a way of working behind the scenes, in all of our circumstances, good or bad, to place us where and with whom He wants us to be! It is then that He can work through us to love, encourage, help, and testify to others! It is a good thing that Vera was in the right place at the right time, available to be used by God in the lives of those He brought across her path!

Vera was loved and will certainly be missed by many!

In addition to her parents, Vera was preceded in death by her husband of 52 years, Jesse L. Anderson, Jr.; five brothers: Ralph Warren, Jr., Lawrence Warren, Virgil Warren, Kenneth Warren, and Delbert Warren; two sisters: Violet Brendahl and Barbara Casper; and grandson Justin Brown.

Vera is survived by two sons: Darrell (Debbie) Anderson, Greensboro, N.C. and Darren (Toni) Anderson, Flint, TX; two daughters: Diana (Mike) McCormick, Pensacola, FL and Denise (Tony) Brown, Colbert, GA; nine grandchildren: Stephen (Rachel) Anderson, Oak Ridge, TN; Daniel (Jennifer) Anderson, Hernando, FL; Bobby (Karen) Anderson, Walnut Cove, N. C.; Joshua Anderson, Amanda (Jesse) Barrett, Caleb Anderson, Amy Anderson, all of Greensboro, N.C.; Casey (Racheal) Brown, Crawford, GA and Tiffany Brown, Colbert, GA; eight great-grandsons and two great-granddaughters; sister Dorothy Filan, Owosso, MI; and many nieces and nephews.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, Danielsville, GA, is in charge of arrangements.

The family will receive friends from 6:00 - 9:00 PM on Friday, July 8, 2022, at the funeral home

The funeral service will be at 11:00 AM on Saturday, July 9, 2022, at Bluestone Baptist Church, Danielsville, GA. Interment will follow in the Bluestone Baptist Church cemetery.

In lieu of flowers and plants, memorials may be made to the Senior Saints Ministry at Bluestone Baptist Church, 3942 Hwy 29 North., Danielsville, GA 30633.

Lord & Stephens Funeral Home, DANIELSVILLE, is in charge of arrangements. www.lordandstephens.com.