Phyllis S Anderson

Phyllis S. Anderson, age 96, of Madison, Wisconsin, passed away on 26 July 2023 at Oakwood Village.  She was born on 20 December 1926 in Madison, the daughter of Dell (Anderson) and Edward Schwingel Jr.  She married A. D. Anderson on 12 April 1945.

Phyllis grew up on West Mifflin in Madison, fondly remembered (in later years) by the Capitol Police who knew her as one of the "Princesses" who dressed up and rolled their baby buggies up to the Capitol where they would play in the rotunda and on the marble staircases.  As a child and throughout life she treated everyone with dignity and respect.   She graduated from Wisconsin High School on University Avenue and from the University of Wisconsin with a Bachelors in Anthropology and a Masters in Hebrew and Semitic Languages.

A polyglot who taught Norwegian and Ancient Hebrew, brailed in French and Spanish and translated Ugaritic and Syriac, she worked with an eclectic team at the UW led by Prof. Menahem Mansoor that collectively knew modern Hebrew and Arabic and eight ancient languages and worked together to translate scrolls, tablets and other documents written in Old Testament times.  She was a member of the first class of the Bethel Series and taught that program all over Wisconsin and in Ohio and for the Roman Catholic Bishop in Thailand. 

Her beautiful piano playing and singing drew her future husband up from the basement apartment where he lived with two other UW graduate students.  Never without dogs in the house, she often had two or three.  A master with needles, she did Hardanger, cross-stitch, needlepoint and knit Irish and Norwegian sweaters.  Her children were blessed with a lunch-time version of Chapter-a-Day that included a different voice for every character and 'chapters' that always ended at the most exciting plot points.

Phyllis is survived by her son, Andrew (Diane) Anderson of Blue Mounds, and her daughter, Kristen (Kevin) Shea of Arena, seven grandchildren and seventeen great-grandchildren.  She was preceded in death by her parents and by her husband of seventy years, Dr. A.D. Anderson.

Many thanks to Oakwood Village and Agrace Hospice for their excellent care.  A celebration of life is planned by the family for a later date.

Memorials: 

            • Children's Dyslexia Center - Madison (no tuition, supported by donations), 301 Wisconsin Ave, Madison 53703

            • Agrace Hospice,  5395 E. Cheryl Pkwy, Fitchburg, WI  53711

            • Oakwood Foundation,  6209 Mineral Point Rd, Suite 200, Madison 53705