Mary R. Anderson

Mary Anderson, a longtime Concord resident, died peacefully on October 18, 2025, two months after turning 100. Since her birth in Ottawa, Ontario, she was on a mission to bring joy to all around her. She succeeded to an extraordinary degree and lit up any room she entered.
Mary and her older brother Peter moved with their parents, Rose and Francis Harrie Richardson to Flushing NY, and then to Lincoln, MA when Mary was eight. At Concord High School (where Lincoln students attended) she met her future husband, William Wheeler Anderson. The two raised a family of four children on Hubbard Street in a home that became a gathering spot for a fleet of her children's friends. She loved them all.
Mary brought enthusiasm to all that she did and drew in everyone she could find. Without hesitation, she took in those who needed a home for an extended period. Often, just for an evening, she took in an interesting traveler she happened to meet. There was always room at Mary's table which was a most entertaining and delicious place.
As her kids grew and moved out, she dedicated herself to a variety of organizations, including: The Thoreau Lyceum, The Concord Teen Center, The First Parish Church and its Choir, The Hubbard Street Athletic Club, The Concord Country Club, The Hodge Podge Lodge and more. She had a passion for and pursued cooking, bridge, baseball, golf, Italy, England, music and anything that piqued her interest.
Mary left college during World War II and always longed to complete her degree. At nearly seventy and recently widowed, she graduated from Brandeis University, magna cum laude, as class marshall. While taking courses over many years, she was the executive secretary to the vice president of the college and then became the liaison between the president and board of trustees. In addition, she was a director of Brandeis' Creative Arts Award Program. This alliance of her intelligence and sociability was especially gratifying for Mary. In the summer after graduation, Mary studied Italian in Tuscany and rented a villa. No surprise that she entertained all the neighbors as well as family and friends.
After Bill passed away, Mary went on to marry Romey Everdell, a long time friend. Over the course of nearly twenty years they traveled the world and she entertained a whole new set of friends at their apartment at Lewis Wharf. She embraced her step-family in her typical out-going manner. As with her first husband Bill, Mary chose to care for Romey through a protracted illness at home.
A series of physical challenges and mild dementia slowed Mary in her last years. Still, her remarkable personality, humor and irresistible smile continued to buoy anyone in her vicinity.
Mary was predeceased by her first husband, Bill Anderson, her second husband Romey Everdell and her son Bill Anderson, Jr. She is survived by three children: Ken Anderson and his wife Lynda, Kristin and her husband Richard Emerson, Elizabeth and her husband Richard Monaghan, eight grandchildren (Augusta Sparks, Cato Anderson, Catharine Dyer, Elizabeth Van de Kerckhove, Ashley Cohane, Erin Clancy, Michele Fergus and David Clancy, plus their spouses), and fifteen great grandchildren. Mary just missed by a few months being a great, great, grandmother. She loved and is also survived by Emerson, Everdell and Monaghan step children and grandchildren as well as Katharine Bell, her daughter in law.
A celebration of life will be held in First Parish, 20 Lexington Road, Concord Center on Thursday, December 11th at 11 am.
In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the William W. Anderson Memorial Scholarship Fund, 34 Walden St. Unit 217, Concord, MA 01742-2542.
Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord.