Obituary: Ludwig, Anna Marie
Age 93
The oldest child of John and Alma (Josund) Stokke, she was born May 30, 1922 at her parents’ home in Wells County, ND.
During her childhood, her father leased a succession of farms in Wells County.
The Stokke family always lived within the Norwegian community that had established the Stavanger Lutheran Congregation at Cathay, ND, in 1893.
Anna Marie remembered having to walk miles to attend school in the town nearest to the farm on which her family was living.
In the winter she would miss school when the snow was too deep.
Farm kids would move into town and pay room and board in order to attend high school.
She was determined to go to high school, so her family made arrangements for her to live with families in four different communities in which she attended her freshman, sophomore and junior years.
Clayton Ludwig befriended 17-year-old Anna Marie while she was staying in Brantford, ND, her junior year.
In the fall of 1941, rather than completing high school, she found a job in Fargo, ND.
Clayton asked her to marry him that Christmas.
A few months later Clayton rode the rails to Seattle to find work at the shipyards, leaving Anna Marie with $75 for train fare to join him.
The pair was married by a justice of peace on the day she arrived in Seattle, May 29, 1942.
Clayton and Anna Marie moved to Spokane in 1946 when he was hired by Washington Water Power.
Anna Marie devoted her life to raising their two children.
Judy, the oldest, was born in Seattle in April 1945; John was born in Spokane in August 1948.
Judy and John preceded their parents in death, succumbing to a rare genetic disease within four days of each other, in February 2000.
Clayton died in 2006.
During the 60s and 70s Anna Marie was employed as “lunch lady” at Rogers High School.
In the 70s and 80s she was involved in Bible Study Fellowship.
In retirement she loved tending her beautiful flower garden.
She enjoyed tying quilts and became a part of the quilting group at Holy Cross Church during the last season of her life.
Anna Marie is survived by granddaughter Amy Turner and her husband Joe of Seattle and granddaughter Alisa Caproni and her husband Nathan of Spokane.
She is also survived by three great-granddaughters, Darby, Abby and Lily Turner of Seattle, and one great-grandson, Jonathan Caproni of Spokane.
In addition, she is survived by a son-in-law, Ken Johnson and his wife Becky and a daughter-in-law, Marjie Ludwig.
She was preceded in death by a great-granddaughter, Lucy Turner; her parents, John and Alma Stokke; a brother, Bud Stokke; and a sister, Dee Spitzer.
A Memorial Service for Anna Marie is being planned for 1:00PM on Saturday, September 26th, at Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 7307 N Nevada, Spokane.
Memorial contributions may be made to Alpha-1 Foundation, 3300 Ponce de Leon Blvd, Coral Gables, Florida 33134.