Dusenberry - Annie Frances Andera, 97, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on July 14, 1911 and died on July 27, 2008. Several days before she died, she was in the best of health and enthusiastically celebrated her birthday with family and friends. Annie was the eldest of eight children born to Frances Stas, born in Torisa, Austria and Joseph Andera, born in Berzevica, Austria. Joseph Andera immigrated to the United States when he was a teenager, living first in Pennsylvania and then in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Frances Stas was brought to the United States by her father when she was four years old. He was already working in the United States and would make trips back to Austria every few years. Frances' mother died at childbirth. Annie attended Catholic schools in Bridgeport and graduated from the eighth grade. After graduation, she worked, while continuing to live at home, at a shirt factory in Bridgeport and then for the General Electric Company. She and her girlfriends traveled during their vacations to Canada and the Eastern states. Old photographs document these trips, picnics, beach outings, and parties. They depict fashionably dressed young ladies and dapper young men very much enjoying themselves. As the eldest of eight children, Annie was responsible for helping out with family chores: everything from caring for younger siblings to household responsibilities. While living with her parents, part of her salary was contributed to the family budget. One day, her brother, Joseph, brought home a young man to meet his sister. Annie and Dan Dusenberry were soon married and had an eventful life. Three children were born from this marriage: Phyllis (1942), Frances (1944), and Daniel (1946). In the mid 1950s, the family moved to a property in Monroe, Connecticut; there Annie held part time jobs in concert with being a devoted mother. She was a good cook and maintained a spotless home. She was an expert at canning from the extensive vegetable gardens and fruit trees that Dan cultivated. Honey from the bee hives was often served with meals as well as used for baking desserts. She was an excellent seamstress and for years produced clothes for her children, and drapes and slipcovers for the household furnishings. In many respects, Annie was the keystone of this almost self-sufficient family. Annie instilled a strong work ethic in her children and she saw to it that they attended church and youth programs. She encouraged conservative money management practices and good study habits – providing the milk and cookies for after-school homework sessions. Annie saw her children mature, attain good grades, go on to complete college educations and post graduate work. The children moved away from their Connecticut home. Annie and Dan traveled often throughout the United States, Canada and France to visit them. In 1986, Annie and Dan sold their home in Monroe and moved to Asbury Heights in Shelton, Connecticut. Since January of 2006, Annie was a resident of the United Methodist Homes' Bishop Wicke Health Center in Shelton. In her latter years, she was limited by her wheelchair; she had no major "illness" but often joked about being an "old, old" woman. Her mind and spirit blossomed in the year following Dan's death. Annie was predeceased by her husband, Daniel Theodore Duesenberry (July 31, 2007) and her son, Daniel Theodore Dusenberry, Jr. ( February 17, 2000), siblings Joseph Andera, Marge Marseglia, Frank Andera, Steve Andera and a favorite nephew, Chido Licciardi. She is survived by daughters Phyllis Mobraaten and husband Larry of Marlboro, Maine and Frances Porter and husband David of Raleigh, North Carolina; daughter-in-law Elizabeth Dusenberry of Boonville, California; grand children Edward Mobraaten and wife Suszanne Bernat of Palo Alto, California, and Michelle Porter of Raleigh, North Carolina; great grandchildren Lily and Daniel Mobraaten; a favorite niece, Carrie Licciardi; sisters June Mezzoni and husband Joseph; Frances Blydenberg, and brother John Andera and wife Norma; and a very dear friend, Billy Stocek, who was a part of her life since she moved to Shelton and friends Siva and Eswari Sivanandam of Middlebury Heights, Ohio. Annie will be buried in the Andera family plot in St. Michael's Cemetery, Bridgeport, CT. Donations in memory of Annie Dusenberry may be sent to the United Methodist Homes, Development Office, 580 Long Hill Avenue, Shelton, CT 06484. The family thanks the outstanding Staff of Bishop Wicke Health Care Facility for providing Annie a stimulating and caring home during the last years of her life and to the entire United Methodist Homes Community. The Adzima Funeral Home 50 Paradise Green Place Stratford has been entrusted with the arrangements.

Bent Old Woman
Every day
The bent old woman
Shuffles down the sidewalk,
Inch by inch.
From in front,
She has no face.
From behind,
She has no head.
All you see is
Her coat, her cane, her courage.

CORNFLAKES: POEMS BY JAMES STEVENSON