Irene Gaydos Anderson

Irene Gaydos Anderson, 85, passed away Thursday, January 29, at Pennswood Village, Newtown, Pennsylvania. Born in Trenton, NJ, she graduated as valedictorian of Hamilton High School in 1947. She was happily married to Walter Washington Anderson, Jr. from 1950 until his death in 2003. Member of Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society and Gamma Sigma sorority at Trenton State College, she received a B.S. in Education with highest honors in 1951, with a focus on Library Science. For several years, she explored jobs in retail sales, as a librarian, and at the Federal Housing Authority. She then put her career on hold to raise her four children, proudly pioneering in natural childbirth. She moved to Hampton Springs, VA, in 1952, Pennington, NJ in 1957, Hopewell Township in 1970, and Pennswood Village, Newtown, PA, in 2006. Starting in 1968, she taught English and Social Studies for 25 years at Hopewell Valley Central High School in Pennington, NJ. She worked tirelessly to motivate her Advanced Placement Colonial US History students to develop college-level skills, and a lifetime love of learning. She sponsored the National Honor Society, Student Council, and after-school clubs. She organized numerous academic field trips to local historical sites. She shared her lifetime interest in arts and travel by organizing evening bus trips for students and the community to Broadway shows in NYC, and later combined both interests while learning through the Elderhostel program. A Deacon at the Pennington Presbyterian Church, she was active in many committees, and Pres Twos fellowship activities. She volunteered at the Pennington Public Library, and tutored literacy at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. She was the daughter of the late Andrew Gaydos and Anna Kall, and sister of the late Helen Merzbacher, Margaret Gaydos, and Irvin Gaydos. She is survived by three daughters and their husbands: Susan and Yves Dujardin, Chaponost, France; Sally and Gary Dobson, Pennington, NJ; Nancy Warner and Patrick Chmel, Titusville, NJ; and a son and his wife, David and Belinda Anderson, Quakertown, PA. She also survived by seven grandchildren: Audrey and Kevin Dujardin, Sarah and Matthew Dobson, Kathryn Dobson Shovkoplyas, Steven Warner, and Rachel Anderson; and one great-grandson, Austin Walter Shovkoplyas.

Service:

2:00 p.m., Thursday, February 5 , 2015

Pennington Presbyterian Church
13 South Main St
Pennington, NJ



Visitation:

Wednesday, February 4, 2015
from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.

Blackwell Memorial Home
21 N. Main St
Pennington, NJ