Mary was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to David August Forslund and Madeleine Francis Cottis. She had one younger brother. Her mother remarried; had two children and they moved to Vernal, Utah. Mary graduated from Uintah High School. She married William O. Nielsen, and later divorced. Two children, Leslie Anne and David Nielsen.
She married her sweetheart, Wayne D. Anderson, on August 30, 1949 and celebrated 64 years together. They were later sealed in the Manti LDS Temple. They had one daughter, Colleen Dee. His job in the oil fields transferred them around eastern Utah and western Colorado. In 1961 they sold their home in Rifle, Colorado and settled in the Salt Lake Valley.
Mary had many successful jobs and held secretarial, office manager and financial positions during her career. She worked for the City of Murray, Cottonwood Hospital and J. M. Grisley Machine Tools. Mary was extremely proud of her employment at Cottonwood Hospital in Murray. She assisted in getting the patient and financial records setup for the new hospital. She worked in several government agencies for the State of Utah; the Highway Department, Division of Aeronautics, Utah National Guard at Camp Williams and Tax Commission. Mary enjoyed her experience at Camp Williams. As Camp's office manager she was responsible for preparing the facility services to accommodate the Guard during their training. She had a fondness for the military and her position at Camp was her favorite. She retired from state government with 20 plus years of service.
Mary was tenacious and took pride in her accomplishments whether on the job or in her personal life. She loved to travel with her husband. They traveled to Singapore where they toured with family. Her favorite travels were the many ocean cruises they took. She loved to dance, oil paint and play card games.
Mary passed away peacefully at Lakeview Hospital after complications of a pulmonary embolism.
Survived by her children; Colleen Anderson, Leslie Maxwell (Doug), David Hacking (Kathy) and sister, Carolyn Parrish. She has 9 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.
Interment will be at Utah Veterans Memorial Park, Camp Williams, at 1:00 pm Friday, February 24th with an 11:00 am - 12:00 noon viewing at Larkin Mortuary (So Temple).
The family would like to thank all those who assisted in her daily care. Superior Home Health, Heritage Place AL Memory Care, Lakeview Hospital, Dr. Southworth, Legacy Healthcare and Larkin Mortuary.
