Elizabeth
Victoria
(Ahlgren)
Anderson
Elizabeth Victoria (Ahlgren) Anderson, beloved wife of the late Llewellyn R. Anderson, passed away Sunday, January 29, 2023, on her 95th birthday. Born at home in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York, during a blizzard, she was the third daughter born to Aina (Isaksson) Ahlgren of Mariehamn, Aland Islands, Sweden (now Finland), and Gustav Ivar Ahlgren of Stockholm, Sweden. Mom grew up in a multi-family home built by her father near Eighth Avenue filled with aunts, uncles, cousins, and relatives from the old country. She always said that the presence of her strong and loving family helped develop the character that kept her strong throughout her life.
She was a proud graduate of the Bay Ridge School for Girls, and her first job after graduation placed her on Wall Street at the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell as an assistant to John Foster Dulles, later United States Secretary of State under President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
After moving to Connecticut, she continued her career at Pratt and Whitney becoming their first woman purchasing agent. She then changed employer and worked for the Southern New England Telephone Company where she won many awards for excellence in customer relations and service. Mom finished her long and successful career at the Bank of America as a loan officer.
Mom’s passions were not limited to her career, but were primarily her home and family. She loved her home in Hartford’s South End with its candyland sidewalk and English-styled gardens. She enjoyed shopping for furnishings for her house and selecting new paint or wallpaper for Dad to install. Her home was filled with the old and the new, but it was the items from the old country she cherished most - the cowbell and silver spoons her mother brought with her from Mariehamn, the copper pots from Stockholm, pictures of her grandparents and aunts and uncles, as well as the many linens embroidered by her mother and sisters. She loved sitting in her backyard among Dad’s vegetable gardens and her flower gardens to read or play with her grandchildren or pets, especially her last dog Tobey. She loved to cook, especially Swedish meatballs, fried chicken, and sweet and sour pot roasts, and she loved to bake brownies with frosting and Swedish cookies. Her family will always fondly remember her many failed attempts at fudge making and “Italian” cooking - pasta with tomato soup!
Mom will long be remembered for her strength of character and generosity of spirit. She was equally passionate and stubborn, and she loved her family deeply. We will miss her quick wit, loving smiles, strong hugs, and red lipstick kisses on our cheeks.
Elizabeth leaves two children, son Eric Anderson and his wife Michele of Vernon; daughter Barbara Lynne Jacques and her husband Nelson of Tolland; three grandchildren, Victoria Anderson of Andover, Kathryn Jacques of Tolland, and Laura Badecker of Tolland; and two great-grand-daughters, Violet and Iris Badecker of Tolland. She was predeceased by two sisters and their husbands: Ann Ahlgren Putz and Anton Putz of Brooklyn, NY; and Martha Ahlgren Andersen and Alfin Andersen of Windsor Locks, CT. She was also predeceased by her nephew Robert Andersen of Newington, CT; and recently by her niece and nephew Barbara Ann Putz Herrly of Albuquerque, NM, and Carl Anton Putz of Trinidad, CO.
Elizabeth is also survived by Robert’s wife Maryellen and their children; great niece Lisa Linnea Herrly Smith of Albuquerque, NM, and her family; great nephew David Herrly of Rush City, MN and his family; and niece Christina Andersen of Highlands, NC and her family; two sisters-in-law and their families, Susan (Anderson) Manship of Clearwater, FL; and Alereen (Anderson) Phillips of San Antonio, TX; special neighbors Mildred, Junior, and Mr. Morales, and the members of the Simone and Paul Jacques family.
Elizabeth’s family would like to thank the staff at Vernon Manor in Vernon for their compassionate care of their Mother, especially Jackie, Wanda, Eileen, and Nate. Thank you, also, to Maryann for the many conversations.
The Sheehan-Hilborn-Breen Funeral Home, 1084 New Britain Avenue, West Hartford, has charge of funeral arrangements. Services with burial at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Connecticut Humane Society, 701 Russell Road, Newington, CT 06111. Online condolences may be made at www.SheehanHilbornBreen.com