Anita Joanne Rigstad

Anita Joanne Rigstad (n√©e Crall) passed away peacefully March 30, 2020 at 82 years of age in Salt Lake City, UT. She was born April 19, 1937 in Walla Walla, Washington, where she and her older brother, Robert Allen Crall (1933-1998), were raised by her father, Albert Lee Roy Crall (1906-1968), and her mother, Katherine M. Crall (n√©e Foltz, 1905-1957). As a child she enjoyed both academics and athletics, with a special fondness visual arts and tennis. She developed her artistic abilities in part by helping out in her father's sign shop. Although earnest about all things just and humane, she also had a delightful sense of humor, which she credited in part to her mother's rollicking wit and laughter. After graduating as valedictorian of her high school class, she attended Whitman College in Walla Walla before transferring to Whitworth College in Spokane, WA. It was at the latter institution that she met the love of her life, her late husband, Robert Hillard Rigstad (1938-2019). Formal dinner dates typically made her so nervous that she was unable to eat much at all. So, when she discovered that she had cleaned her plate on her first date with Robert (a.k.a. Bob), she knew that he was the man for her. After earning their baccalaureate degrees in Art and History respectively in 1959, she and Bob were married at her home church, United Brethren of Walla Walla, WA, April 8, 1960. They remained together and deeply in love for the rest of their lives together. While Bob attended Dubuque Theological Seminary, she taught Junior High School Art. After Bob was ordained, she began her service as a pastor's wife at the First Presbyterian church of Roseburg, OR (1962 -1966), and gave birth to her two sons, Peter Martin Rigstad (1963-) and Mark Allen Rigstad (1965-). She and Bob and their two sons also lived in Jacksonville, OR (1966-1968), Salt Lake City, UT (1968-1972 & 1980-1988), and Woodland Hills, CA (1972-1980). She and Bob then lived in Seattle, WA (1988-1992), Havertown, PA (1992-2000), and again in Salt Lake City for the remainder of their lives. When Anita resumed her career in California, it was in support of a Parent Infant Program that provided assistance to families with multiply and severely handicapped children. She continued her work with mentally and physically challenged preschoolers in the Jordan Valley school district of Utah, and earned her master's degree in Education at the University of Utah in 1984, specializing in early childhood development. She then took on administrative roles in this field in Seattle and Philadelphia until retirement in Salt Lake City, where she and Bob could be close to old friends and family ‚ i.e., Peter, his wife, Marcy (1970-), and their children, Ryan (2000-) and Natalie Rigstad (2005-). Instead of being a time for leisure, retirement was an occasion for a new kind of work, in which she headed up, through Wasatch Presbyterian Church, a Sudanese Fellowship program to support refugees from war torn Sudan. When she was at home, Anita loved to cook, and was quite good at it, adhering meticulously to tried and true recipes. As everyone who knew her can attest, she also loved to engage in penetrating conversations about political, moral, and spiritual life. Anita was always a champion of the disadvantaged, the downtrodden, and the marginalized, keen to raise up the disabled, the poor, and the LGBTQ communities. In short, she worked passionately and tirelessly in her rich and accomplished life to make this world a better place. She will be sorely missed by the many people whose lives she touched.