Anita Miriam Zastrow

Zastrow, Anita Miriam (Odens) was born on August 28, 1945 in Yankton, South Dakota to Philip and Eva (Kastein) Odens. She grew up on a farm and attended Perkins School in rural BonHomme County before attending Springfield High School. After graduating from high school in 1963, she attended Southern State College in Springfield where she received her degree in Business Education and English. While in college, Anita met her lifetime love. She married Laurence Joseph Zastrow on August 18, 1967 in Springfield before moving to Vermillion, SD.

Anita was a lifelong learner. She loved school and proudly began her teaching career at Elk Point High School while Lary attended law school. During the summer of 1970, Anita and Lary moved to Rapid City, SD where they welcomed both of their daughters, Stephanie (Jason) Ley, Western Springs, IL and Stacie (Joseph VanTassel) Zastrow, Phoenix, AZ. While in Rapid City, she worked as the assistant to the President and taught at National College of Business. Anita later continued her teaching career at Belle Fourche High School where she taught Business English and was the cheerleading coach. She also taught at T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, SD before joining Lary for the remainder of their careers working for the State Bar of South Dakota. Retirement brought Anita and Lary to Scottsdale, Arizona where she died peacefully on May 7 surrounded by her family following a fourteen month battle with metastatic breast cancer.

Anita was actively involved within her community. She loved organizing events and activities as much as she loved meeting new people and making new connections locally and across the globe. For much of her adult life, Anita volunteered her time to many groups that were incredibly important to her. Some of those organizations were Zonta International, AAUW (American Association of University Women), United Methodist Women (Pierre and Scottsdale), P.E.O., BPW (Business & Professional Women), and the Pierre/Ft. Pierre Genealogical Society. She was particularly passionate about causes related to education, women's rights and social justice.

One of her most cherished roles was that of grandmother. Anita loved and was extremely proud of her three 'favorite' grandchildren. She was always happy to share photos and stories of her twin grandchildren, Marit and Henning Ley, and her youngest grandson, Skye Zastrow Durnford. She and Lary attended countless school performances, sport events, and dance recitals regardless of location and miles required to reach them. Anita was thrilled that a whole family trip to Germany took place recently after several years of discussing and planning.

Anita was preceded in death by her parents, her brother, Robert Odens, and twin grandsons, Daniel and Caleb Ley.

Plans for Memorial services in Scottsdale and South Dakota are being made. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice of the Valley by accessing a mail-in form or making an online donation at hov.org/donate/.