Anna C. Pfister

Anna C. Pfister (Ann), age 90, of Decorah, Iowa, died on Monday, September 22, 2008 at Aase Haugen Home in Decorah following a long illness. Memorial Services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Tuesday, October 7, 2008 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah, Iowa with Rev. Gene Hermeier officiating. Inurnment will be in Locust Cemetery in rural Decorah with full military honors. Friends may visit with the family after 1:00 P.M. Tuesday, one hour before the service, at Fjelstul Funeral Home. Anna Cunningham Pfister (Ann) was born to Merle and Anne (Lennox) Cunningham in Portage, Pennsylvania on June 25, 1918. After graduation from Lewistown High School, Lewistown, PA in 1935, she moved to Philadelphia, PA where she completed nurse’s training at St. Luke's and Children's Hospital School of Nursing in 1939. She continued working at St. Luke's as a Registered Nurse until taking a position in Detroit, MI. She joined the American Red Cross in 1942 and entered the Army Nurse Corps in March of 1943. She was assigned to the 117th Station Hospital and served in the Asiatic Southwest Pacific Theater until her discharge in September of 1945. Ann is listed at the Women In Military Service For America Memorial in Washington DC as 2nd Lt. Anna Cunningham, R.N. During her tour of duty she met 1st Lt. George A. Pfister whom she married on June 14, 1944 in Brisbane, Australia. After they were honorably discharged from the Army, they settled on the Pfister family farm north of Locust, in rural Decorah, Iowa where she raised four children. She taught Sunday School and was active in many church activities at St. John's Lutheran Church, Locust. She was an active member of the Iowa Nurses' Association in Decorah and worked as head nurse at Station 1 at the new Aase Haugen Home until retiring in 1969. She and George moved from the farm to Decorah in 1973. Ann was a talented pianist, enjoyed ceramics and rosemaling, belonging to the Northeast Iowa Rosemaling Assoc. But when it came to her hobbies, her real love was china painting and socializing with her fellow china painters. She was an active member first of Shade and Shadow (Cresco), and later of Nordic Decorators in Decorah. Ann passed away on Monday night, September 22, 2008 at the Aase Haugen Home where she had been a resident since the June, 2008 Decorah floods, at the age of 90 years. She was first and foremost a loving wife and mother, and will be cherished and missed by all who knew and loved her. Survivors include her devoted husband George of 64 years, now a resident of the Aase Haugen Home; three daughters, Karol (Karoline) of Waukegan, IL, Janet (and husband Jerry) Hall of West Des Moines, IA, and Lynne (and husband Dean) Lamp of Glidden, IA; a son, Philip (and wife Jeanie) of Marion, IA; two granddaughters, Elizabeth and Katherine Hall, and four grandsons, Adam and Paul Pfister and Erik and Daniel Lamp; one brother, George Cunningham of Lewistown, PA, as well as many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; one brother, William Cunningham; and three sisters, Margaret Cooper, Katherine Burgener and Marion (Dolly) Thornburg. Memorials may be made to the Alzheimer’s Foundation, American Cancer Society, or to the Disabled American Veterans. Mail all correspondence to George Pfister, P.O. Box 510, Decorah, Iowa 52101.