Verona Langsdorf

Anchorage resident Verona "Teddi" Langsdorf, 101, died March 13, 2011, at Fine Pearle Assisted Living.

Her ashes will be laid to rest at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Wash., next to husband Robert and adopted daughter Anna Lee. An Anchorage celebration of Teddi's life will be held on Saturday at 2 p.m. at the home of Gloria Kron, 1910 Shore Drive, 349-1910.

Teddi was born June 19, 1909, in Melstone, Mont., the 13th of 14 children. Her family had settled in Montana from Oregon in 1892. Her father, Byron Virgil Dunn, drove a stagecoach between Montana and the Oregon coast, carrying the mail. Her mother, Mary Cole, cared for the family on the ranch, where racehorses were bred and sold.

Teddi married the boy from the ranch next door, Fred Keith. They had one son, Fred Jr. They also adopted a little girl, Gloria, in 1946. Teddi and Fred eventually divorced.

In 1957, Teddi married again, this time to Robert G. Langsdorf. He worked in the aviation industry and was an A&E mechanic on the DEW Line in Barrow. In 1958, she and her daughter drove to Fairbanks on the Alaska Highway in a 1957 Ford Fairlane.

Teddi and Robert elected to become licensed foster parents for the state of Alaska. With subsistence hunting, fishing, berry gathering and growing yearly gardens, the Langsdorfs cared and nurtured more than 1,000 children from all over the state. One 9-month-old baby from Dillingham was not allowed to return home from the hospital; they took her in and eventually adopted Anna Lee Nelson, who lived with them until she died.

In 1995, the Langsdorfs retired to Auburn, Wash. Robert was paralyzed in a boating accident and Teddi, without any assistance, cared for her husband. After Robert's and Anna's deaths in 2002, Teddi returned to Anchorage and lived in her own little house in South Anchorage until after her 100th birthday. She then lived at Providence Horizon House. In late 2010, she moved to Fine Pearle Assisted Living and was lovingly cared for by Pearlita and her family.

The services provided by Providence Hospice are very much appreciated by Teddi's family.

The family is thankful for Teddi's companions, Mary Oxley and Kate Rodeck, who became her extended family.

Teddi was a blessing and a spark of light to many souls in this world and she will be missed.

Survivors are her son, Fred Keith Jr. (Dorothy); daughter, Gloria Kron (Denny); grandchildren, Daralene Capps (Chris), Stephanie Kron-Raffetto (John), Ardeana Patrick (Frank), Dayle-Mary Keith, Kelli Keith and Korinn Siwicke (Matt); and 10 great-grandchildren.

Teddi was preceded in death by her parents; 13 siblings; two husbands; and one daughter.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Providence Hospice, 3435 E. Tudor Road, Anchorage 99507.

Arrangements are with Alaskan Heritage Memorial Chapel, www.akheritage.com.