Della, 105, passed away peacefully at her residence in Boerne on March 15, 2024.

Della was a beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother. She was patient, always kind and remarkably even-tempered.

The youngest of six children, she was born to Emma and Albert Anderson on her parents’ homestead in Clay County, South Dakota.

When she was six months old, the 1918 flu pandemic hit. Her family members, except for her and her father, contracted the flu. More than 100 years later she survived the next global pandemic. Della enjoyed the country life. There was always something to do, farm animals to play with, tractors to drive and corn fields to explore. Her happy childhood was spent on the farm surrounded by a large extended family.

Her grandparents came to the United States from Sweden shortly after the end of the U.S. Civil War, lured by the promise of land made available by the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862. After graduating from high school in 1936, she studied business, later taking her first job in Yankton, South Dakota. She took a civil service exam in Yankton and, in early 1940, was offered a job (paying $3,600 per year) with the War Department in Washington, D.C.

One evening in October 1941, she attended a USO sponsored dance where she met Mario J. . Mario had joined the U.S. Navy in 1939 and was stationed in Quantico, Virginia.

He was to become her husband in March 1942. They were married for 69 years when Mario died at age 92 in December 2011.

A few months after their marriage, he was reassigned to a U.S. Marine Corps field hospital in the South Pacific. She left the War Department job and moved to the Rio Grande Valley. Texas became their permanent home after the war.

Many years later, after raising four children and reaching retirement age, they moved into Morningside at Menger Springs in Boerne. They made many good friends at Menger Springs and were active participants in activities with the other residents. She played the piano, enjoyed card games and dominos. Her needlepoint creations were prizewinning.

is survived by her four children, Barbara Whitaker of Rockwall, Texas; Rachel Garrison of Kerrville, Texas; Robert of Edmond, Oklahoma; and Paul of Sammamish, Washington. She is also survived by 12 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. om May 3 at Menger Springs followed by the internment of Mario and Della at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, San Antonio.

In lieu of flowers, consider donations to the Covenant Fund managed by Morningside Ministries, 137 W. French Place, San Antonio, TX 78212. Checks, made payable to Morningside Ministries should mention the Covenant Fund in the memo line.

To leave condolences for the family, please visit www.ebensberger-fisher.com. Arrangements with Ebensberger Fisher Funeral Home of Boerne.