Laura Anger

1959 - 2025

How to begin the story of a life that touched so many? There is no one good starting point. Traditional obituary writing would have you put her basic information up front. Yes, this information is included, but keep in mind that Laura was not a traditional woman and she definitely did not want a traditional obituary. Grab your refreshment and settle in.
Laura Jane Anger (Thorstenson) was born on Sept. 10, 1959, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She is survived by her two children, Jacqueline (Daniel) Anger-Pipe, and Brett Anger, and her brother Douglas (Kathy) Thorstenson. She leaves behind four grandchildren, Rowan (Baily) Pipe, Thea (MJ) Viers, Erym Anger-Pipe and Astrid Anger-Pipe. Further she is survived by a great grandson, Ambrose Morris, nephews Jon (Erica), Joel (Sithis), Jeff (Chandra) Thorstenson, and nieces Danielle (Jim), Lance and Melanie (Clark) Robinson. She also had several brothers and sisters in law who remained dear friends even after the passing of her siblings: Debra Thorstenson, Jeri Bogart, and Richard (Diane) Gray.
We would also like to acknowledge the friends who became family, including Maryann Bukowski, Paula Hadley, the bonus kids she adopted along the way, including Debby Howell, Jesus Rodriguez, Terry Gsell and Luis Martinez-Morales, Rusty Shackleford, Jessica (Michael) Rabe, Erica (Joe) Villarosa, her brother Demetrius, Laura (Noah) Pierson, Emily Garlick, and many more.
Carrying on her legacy are her grandpets- Bliss, Azan, Liono, Leah, Luna, Sithis, and great grandpets- Figment, Tigger, Granger, Viscount Ketlinger Rattsplitter II, Diego, Swiper and Trevor.
She is preceded in death by her parents, Bertil and Josephine Thorstenson, Brothers Bertil and Charles Thorstenson, and sister Darlene Gray (Thorstenson), loyal companion and fur son Sir Boots, and like 40 other friends and family members. The most recent being her ex-husband Bob, in April of 2025. At this point, we should be earning frequent flyer miles at the funeral home. Laura would definitely be asking why that isn't a thing already.
Her surviving family would like to congratulate her for finally giving up cigarettes, on Nov. 28th, which was also the day she died. We'd say that she'd given up smoking completely, but as she is being cremated, that would not be the truth of the matter. She will have literally smoked even after her death, which deserves recognition for her commitment.
And Laura was very committed- to her family, her friends, and her beliefs. She was fearlessly vocal about her disdain for the current political administration and went to several protests, participating up until the last weeks of her life.
For years, Laura was the business manager for Ferris State University's collegiate newspaper, the Ferris State Torch. She loved what she did and loved the people there, she was dedicated and driven. She knew how to make people feel welcomed, safe and included. Laura was no traditional boss in the best way, she made work fun with her witty sense of humor, jokes and pranks. She truly cared about the wellbeing of people.
A staunch ally for the LGBTQ community, Laura was a Mom for friends of friends who needed a family. She proudly wore rainbow colors for Pride and displayed the colorful flag of unity on her porch. She truly believed in RuPaul's message of self love, "If you can't love yourself, how the hell are you gonna love anybody else? Can I get an Amen?" The gospel of RuPaul, inclusion, and love was her faith.
Laura cared deeply for her friends and family as well. She was always there to listen, give advice, be a shoulder to cry on or help you create a plot against your enemies. She was a founding member of The Phantom Can Kickers, along with her sister Darlene and sister in law Barb, with the mission to answer the question, "Do you know it's 2 o clock in the morning and people are trying to sleep?" The streets of Big Rapids will be silent until a new generation of can kickers are inducted into this prestigious organization.
Laura decided that passing away the day after Thanksgiving would be best because that way, people could wait until after the snow finally leaves Michigan (maybe May?) to get together and celebrate her life. We would like to thank her for being so considerate, and will announce those plans in the spring. Also, why don't funeral homes offer Black Friday deals?
In lieu of sending flowers, Laura made it known she would want people to donate to organizations she believed in: World Central Kitchen, Mecosta County Democratic Party, Planned Parenthood, Animal Rescue Coalition (ARC) of Mecosta County, and journalist Heather Cox Richardson. She valued all of their dedication to helping others and speaking truth.
In her final days, Laura wore her "I'm Not Dead Yet" t-shirt as a tribute to Monty Python, one of her favorite comedy troupes. Well, now she has to go on the cart because she is now dead. She could protest that she feels fine, but we know better.