Mary Anderson

Mary Beth Anderson, 86, passed away on June 19, 2019, at Tobey Hospital in Wareham, Mass. Mary was born May 24, 1933 in Pollard. She was the daughter of Eva Hoggard and Leslie Gossett and spent her childhood in Piggott. When she was a teenager, her family moved to the Detroit, Mich., area. She lived there for several years until she was introduced to Aubrey “Toady” Anderson of Osceola by a close friend. Within two months, they were married. They moved to Osceola in 1952. Mary lived in Osceola until last August when she moved to Massachusetts to live with her daughter.

Mary was preceded in death by Toady in 1985. She leaves behind a daughter and son-in-law, Linda and Joel Knudsen, of Rochester, Mass., and a son and daughter-in-law, Gary and Sabrina Anderson, of Raleigh, N.C.

Mary was very close to all of her grandchildren. They affectionately referred to her as “Grandma Arkansas.” They spent many wonderful summers in Osceola - fishing with grandma, golfing, swimming, and going to Walmart with “grandma’s purse!” These now grown adults who will miss her so much are Brooke Thompson of Bowdoinham, Maine, Chase Knudsen of Cottonwood, Calif., Kip Knudsen of West Wareham, Mass., Corey Knudsen of Highland, Ind., Tyler Anderson of Apex, N.C., and Austin Anderson of Boone, N.C. Mary also leaves behind 11 great-grandchildren who loved and knew her as “GiGi.”

Mary is also survived by two sisters - Jan Dunlop of Clarkston, Mich., and June Zieter of Hazel Park, Mich., and a sister-in-law, Gail Gossett of Troy, Mich. They made an annual pilgrimage to Osceola to visit Mary and enjoyed their time together shopping, eating out, and visiting the casinos. As recently as the end of May, they came to visit her in Rochester, Maine.

Mary was a member of the First Baptist Church in Osceola, spent several years serving in the Junior Auxiliary, and was an avid golfer. One of her proudest moments was a hole-in-one at the Riverlawn Country Club. She was also the ladies golf champion there one year.

Mary and Toady spent a lot of time fishing on the Black River and at OK Hunting Club in Wiener. She amazed all her grandkids with her catfish skinning ability! She was an excellent southern cook. It was not unusual for Toady, Linda or Gary to just show up for lunch on school/work days with friends. And she would always feed them well. Mary was very competitive, loved to play board games and expected to win! She loved dogs, especially her German shepherds. She loved watching golf and her beloved Razorbacks on TV.

The service will be held on Saturday, Aug. 3, at Roller-Swift Funeral Home in Osceola. The viewing will be at 9:30 a.m. followed by the service at 10:30 a.m. She will be buried next to Toady, which happens to be his birthday.

It was well known that Mary’s favorite color was red. Most all of her clothing was red. The family is requesting for those attending her funeral service to please wear red.