Obituary of Dorothy Alice Andresen

Dorothy Alice Walter Andresen passed into God's eternal kingdom at home on August 5, 2022. She was born to William and Alice Walter on November 3, 1932 at home in Buffalo, New York. She grew up with dozens of cousins and summers and weekends at the lake or the farm. As a young adult she met her true love, Roy Andresen, while working as a keypunch operator. She and Roy and the three eldest children drove to Santa Cruz in 1959 in a DeSoto, where Roy had been transferred. Eventually they settled in Rio del Mar where they helped with the building their home. The family grew by one more child. Donna, Daniel, David and Duane will always remember the epic road trips cross country every summer in the trusty Buick Skylark station wagon to Buffalo to visit the relatives. It meant six people in a non-air conditioned, no seatbelts car, and camping at National Parks along the way. Christmas meant a visit from the Buffalo grandparents and a trip to Disneyland. Dorothy was a June Cleaver-Carol Brady type of mother, giving the kids a “Leave it Beaver meets Brady Bunch” childhood. With four children, Dorothy was a stay-at-home mom. However, she kept busy with 4-H and volunteering at Christ Lutheran Church. She alternated between the kids’ classrooms being a room mother, which meant cupcake parties and field trips. As with most families, gatherings around food took on legendary status. Dorothy will always be remembered for her cheesecake, German potato salad, macaroni tuna salad, potato pancakes, broccoli with cheese sauce, spaetzle, baked beans, rice Krispie treats, and spaghetti. Holiday meals always meant a table decorated seasonally for the occasion. She adored her grandchildren who looked forward to their summer week with Grandma. That week was made up of arts and crafts, beach trips, the bookstore, playing card games, and going to the movie theater. She was a veteran knitter and endeavored to teach her grandkids to knit. She knit every morning and made hundreds, maybe a thousand, knit caps for newborns in the NICU. She loved playing cards, especially bridge, rummy, and cribbage. She enjoyed reading romances and murder mysteries, making puzzles, and playing Upwords. She was a part of a group of ladies who met every two weeks for lunch and playing cards for many years. She lived for many decades as an unwilling widow and found her voice and independence. She traveled to Texas and Buffalo. She never said no to requests to babysit an ill child at the last minute, driving her Buick over highway 17. She was invaluable during Alice's hospitalizations for cancer, driving to Palo Alto in her seventies, splitting days with Aunt Sharon to allow Donna to continue working. She taught her children morals, and to always have extra food for a drop-in. Her children always came first. She spent her later years quietly at home, visiting with family, knitting, watching tv westerns, and the Food network. She is predeceased by her husband Roy (1986), granddaughter Alice (2007), and step-grandson Ben (2022), and many dear friends. She leaves behind her brother Ken Walter and family of Buffalo, New York, children: Donna, Daniel and Jeanne, David and Sharon, and Duane; grandchildren: Amber and Brent Kocal, Adam and Renee, Roy Araiza, Taylor and Garrett (Sierra), Stephanie Araiza Sinclair and family, and great-grandchildren: Ellie and Gavin Kocal, and Uriah and Kalia. The family expresses deep thanks and gratitude to Va who stepped in to care for mom lovingly until the end. We like to imagine mom again being a fourth at the bridge table with our dad, and Bob and Marge Patterson while watching Monday Night Football.