Sharon “Shari” Andersen

ANDERSEN, GATES, VAN ETTEN

Posted By: Cindy (email)
Date: 1/8/2025 at 11:27:03

Sharon “Shari” Andersen, age 86 of rural Cedar Falls, died Wednesday, January 1, 2025, at her home.

She was born September 13, 1938, at Independence, IA, the first child of Paul and Edna Walter Van Etten. Shari started school in Cedar Falls, but her family moved to Quasqueton, IA, where she continued her education, graduating first in her class from Quasqueton High School in 1956. She attended State College of Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls.

Shari was a member of Walnut Ridge Baptist Church in Waterloo. She was also a member of the Cedar Falls chapter of the daughters of the American Revolution; the SnoHawks Snowmobile Club, the Midwest Hitchhiker RV Club; the Quasqueton Area Historical Society; Friends of Cedar Rock; and had been a volunteer docent at Cedar Rock, near Quasqueton, IA. In the 1980s she served two terms as the first woman on the Janesville, IA, school Board of Directors. Before retiring, she was employed in the accounting area at the former John Deere Waterloo Tractor Works on Westfield Ave., Waterloo, and as Office Manager at Cedar Heights Baptist Church in Cedar Falls.

Shari is survived by her husband, Lyle Andersen; their three sons, Brad (Tim Ewing) of Phoenix, AZ; Scott (Kim) of Waterloo; Rev. Mark (Michelle) Andersen of Atlantic, IA; 10 grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; a brother, James Van Etten of Newhall, IA, brother-in-law Marlin (Ruby) Andersen of St. Louis, MO; Aunt Vivian Gates of Cedar Falls; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, William Paul Van Etten.

A Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 AM on Monday, January 6, 2025, at the Reiff Family Center – Funeral Home & Crematory in Independence, IA.

Burial will be held at the Quasqueton Cemetery, Quasqueton, IA.

Visitation will be held from 2 PM until 5 PM on Sunday, January 5th at the funeral home.