Anna Matha Safstrom

Graveside services were held Saturday, March 8, at Elm Lawn Memorial Park in Elmhurst where Anna Safstrom was laid to rest next to her first husband, Glenn Clement.
Anna was born in April 1919 to Scott and Bernzelle Mitchell in the family farmhouse in the hills of rural southwestern Pennsylvania. Her sister Mary was two years older, Helen followed in 1920 and Robert in 1926. Anna was the last living member of that family.
Life for Anna on the family farm included riding the horse Daisy over the hill to grammar school, having pet sheep, tending chickens, and doing household chores. In 1937, she graduated from Waynesburg High School. She was active in 4-H clubs and won a variety of county and state ribbons. In 1941 she graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a B.S. in Secondary Education with a Home Economics major and Chemistry minor.
For the next six years, she taught junior and senior high school home economics in three southwestern Pennsylvania school districts. Leaving teaching, she went to Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. While earning her degree in Christian Education, she worked in food service at BJU for five years, first as Assistant Dietitian and later as Head Dietician.
In the fall of 1952, she moved to Chicago and joined the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship staff in its national office where she served until 1968. Her main role was as Circulation Manager for HIS magazine. Her last career employment ('69–'82) was as an accounting clerk at Walgreens Drug Co. corporate headquarters in Chicago. She retired at age 63.
During her lifetime she married twice. Both men were WWII Army Air Corps veterans. In 1955, at age 36, she married Glenn Clement who died eleven years later of complications with stomach cancer. Preceded by a Moody Church friendship, in 1972 at age 53, she married the 65-year-old widower Kenneth Safstrom. That Ken was almost 13 years older was familiar to Anna, as her dad was 13 years older than her mom.
In 1983, a year after she retired, Anna and Ken moved from their Park Ridge home to an apartment in Friendship Village in Schaumburg. Ken died suddenly in 1995. Anna lived independently there for the next 22 years, followed by three years in assisted living and the last five in skilled nursing care.
When asked to describe her, those who knew Anna quickly run out of benevolent superlatives. To all, she was a quietly gregarious conversationalist. To family, she was loyal, encouraging, and intentionally available. Her friends experienced her gracious hospitality. The workplace quickly discovered her responsible competence and punctuality; accountable supervision; and innovation while embracing new technologies.
Jesus Christ had loved her first. Having confessed Him as her Lord and Savior, she loved Him supremely and lived a life of devoted service to Him. Wherever He planted her, she bloomed to show forth His love and attractive kindness (grace) to others. For many of her adult years, she was a member of Moody Church in Chicago. At Moody, she served as Sr. High Department secretary. She also taught senior high schoolers at Clybourn Ave Church.
Her numerous interests and activities included sewing, crafts, weaving, lapidary, reading, and cooking. What else might one expect from a seasoned teacher and professional practitioner of home economics.