Wanda W. Westby

Wanda Westby, of Buffalo, formerly of Dawson passed away, Thursday, March 5, 2020 at the Park View Care Center in Buffalo, MN at the age of 91.

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at 11:00 AM at Grace Lutheran Church in Dawson.  Pastor Kendall Stelter will officiate, and burial will be in the church cemetery.

Visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the church on Wednesday.

Wanda W. Westby was born on May 17, 1928 on a farm 2 ½ miles south of Lac qui Parle Village to Edwin and Edith (Lee) Anderson.  She was baptized at home and was confirmed on November 23, 1941 at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church of Baxter. She attended rural school in Lac qui Parle Village District 1 through seventh grade and then Dawson Public Schools.  She moved to Dawson and worked as a waitress and at the Dawson Creamery candling eggs until her marriage to Gordon Westby on August 29, 1947 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Dawson. They lived in Wheaton, Madison and Dawson, where she lived until moving to Park Terrace Assisted Living in Buffalo, MN in 2012.

Wanda began attending farm auctions in the 1960's and got hooked on antiques.  Her love of antiques gradually grew from collecting to selling and starting her own antique business. Her first antique shop was in the basement of their house.  Her business outgrew the basement and they built a large garage to accommodate the growing business, eventually moving to a building on main street.  When Gordon retired they purchased a building on Highway 212 and enjoyed running Westby’s Antiques together. They enjoyed traveling while selling antiques at flea markets and antique shows.
She played a large role in setting up window displays for the Dawson Centennial as well as scenes from yesteryear in the armory, sharing her collections with others.

Wanda loved to entertain, even pulling off a huge surprise birthday party for Gordon’s 70th birthday.  The coffee pot was always on welcoming everyone with people coming and going. She was a good cook and loved to bake, with her donuts and chocolate chip cookies especially good. She loved to sew and even made tiny Barbie doll clothes.  Wanda had many flower gardens that she enjoyed tending to.  Gordon and Wanda had fun fixing up their home - the big red house across the street from Grace Lutheran Church.

Wanda was an active member of both Trinity and Grace Lutheran Churches, and was a Sunday School and release time teacher, a member of the ladies aid, church circle, altar guild and activities chair.  She was a  Cub Scout den mother, Girl Scout leader, a member of the Strand - Saboe VFW Post Auxiliary and was on the Dawson Centennial Committee.

Wanda resided in her apartment at Parkside Terrace Assisted Living in Buffalo for nearly eight years, with only one other resident having lived there longer. She loved the activities and being around all the other residents.  She really liked living at Park Terrace, where she made many new friends. Everyday she said how nice it was to live there and how life had been good to her.

She is survived by two daughters; Dawn (Myron) Weis of Buffalo, MN and Darcy (Mike) Sullivan of Mankato, MN; a daughter-in-law, Sue Westby of Dawson; grandchildren: Jennifer (Mark Sachs) Berven, Adam (Tiffany) Weis, Dan (Wendy) Westby, Emily (Andrew) Myers, and Heather (Wesley) Pederson; great grandchildren: Brady, Cody, Cody, Rylee, Benjamin, Isaac, Lilly, Aubree, Keith, Rebekkah, Haakon, Kade and Sutton; and great, great grandchildren: Bryden and Westen and a sister-in-law, Frances Anderson.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Gordon in 1990 and a son, Gary in 2019, a grandson Bradley in 2017, by brothers Cecil Anderson and Dennis Anderson and by a sister, Virginia Winge

Blessed be the memory of Wanda Westby.