Annella Boas Sartori

Annella Boas Sartori Annella Pearl Boas (Mrs. Max Orlando) Sartori died of natural causes Monday, February 20, 2006, at the Seymour, IN apartment she shared with her younger daughter Maxanne Sartori. Annella would have celebrated her 89th birthday on May 12. Born in Vallonia, IN in 1917, Annella was the only daughter of cattle auctioneer Henry Earl Boas and homemaker Iva Della Singer Boas. Annella was also sister to Ralph, Ray, Neal, George, Joe, and Richard Boas, all of whom preceded their sister in passing. The Boas family moved from Vallonia to Seymour when Annella was a child. She was an active member of 4-H and a good student. In 1931, she won the Jackson County Spelling Bee as an eighth grader at Kasting School. Annella graduated Shields High School in 1935 and Purdue University in 1939. She earned a B.S. in home economics. She left Indiana for Phoenix, AZ to pursue career opportunities. The hot day climate there had also been recommended by doctors as beneficial for her chronic asthma. Among jobs she held were a war-time metallurgy post, saleswoman for Club Aluminum cookware and department store demonstrator for Bendix appliances. In 1946 Annella met Dr. Max Orlando Sartori, M.D. in Phoenix. A Wisconsin native, he had enlisted in the Navy following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Annella loved his blue eyes and curly dark hair, his quick smile, intelligence and strength. They married in 1947 and moved to Oakland, CA. Daughter Maxanne was born in 1948, while Dr. Sartori was stationed overseas in Algiers. Dr. Sartori served as a Navy flight surgeon for 30 years and retired as a Captain in 1972. During his service Max and Annella were stationed in literally every corner of America: Seattle, WA, San Diego, CA, Brunswick, ME and Milton, FL, as well as Minneapolis, MN, and (then territory) Barbers Point, Oahu, HI. Annella found great satisfaction working with developmentally challenged children as a volunteer with more than 600 hours of service. She was also an officer in multiple chapters of the Naval Officers' Wives Club, and volunteered more than 1,000 hours in the Naval Relief Society, an organization devoted to helping families of the American Navy's woefully underpaid enlisted personnel. Annella's favorite pastime was preparing food and teaching others to prepare dishes she loved, whether recipes were classics, those her mother had taught her, or some she had developed cooking for family and friends. Her specialties included spaghetti Bolognese, sauerbraten, sour-cream topped cheesecake, and cranberry relish. She also loved making the tropical drinks the couple had enjoyed while stationed in Hawaii. Her cookbook "I Love to Cook" was published in 1974 - It was named as a tongue-in-cheek response to the seventies book "I Hate To Cook". The Sartories retired to Vero Beach, FL in 1972. They were joined there by daughter Maxanne in 1999, as Max's health began to fail. Max succumbed to coronary artery disease in 2004, and Annella moved in with her younger daughter. Their condo (and many of Vero Beach's beautiful homes) was rendered uninhabitable by hurricane Frances and hurricane Jeanne, which struck just three weeks apart in September, 2004. Annella and Maxanne chose to move to Seymour at that time. Annella left behind many cherished friends in Vero Beach, including Judy Wakefield, Carol and Miles O'Brien, Mahendra, Daksha, and Kunal Patel, Valerie Tucker and Elaine and Richard Pelletier, as well as many nurses and nursing assistant at the Somerset House Assisted Living Residence. Annella also treasured her 50 years plus friendships with Bernie Fox, Whidbey Island, WA, Jen Minkler of Seattle, WA and Helen and Siobhan O'Connor of 29 Palms, CA. Annella's passing will also be celebrated by the extended Sartori family, especially Al and Sally Testolin and children; David Sartori; Donald Max and Miyako Sartori and children; Phillip Sartori; and Cheryl and Darryl Hines and daughter Dawn. Annella enjoyed attending Class of '35 Shields High School reunions and appreciated Paula Johnson Demas' efforts organizing those festivities. Annella felt she was very blessed when, in 1969, with great assistance from husband Max and brother George and wife Margarrette, she was reunited with the daughter she had given up to an adoptive family in 1936. Her elder daughter Susanne Dedrick is a Denver resident. Also cherished by Annella are Susanne's son Jay and Wife Melissa Dedrick of Louisburg, Co; Son Kyle and wife Kathy Dedrick and their daughter Aubrey of Springfield, VA and Susanne's ex-husband Dick and his wife Bobbe Dedrick of Denver, CO Finally, keeping constant vigil for Annella is her beloved canine companion, Chinese Crested Scarlett Rosemary Sartori, who awaits pizza crusts and love. A memorial celebration will be hosted by daughter Maxanne on March 9. Interment of Annella's ashes will be at Arlington National Cemetery, where husband Max was buried. All arrangements were by Mark Adams at Voss Funeral Home.