Charlene Anderson

Charlene was born on February 15th, 1949 in Conrad Montana. She was the oldest of 2 children born to Rose and Soley Anderson. Charlene had a large, extended family, but was especially close with her sister Pearl, her half-brother Al Rambo, and her half-sister Alta Anderson.

Charlene attended elementary school in Conrad and finished her schooling at the Montana Developmental Center. She entered the day program at Northern Gateway in Shelby on 9/30/77, but continued to live at home with her mom and sister. Charlene moved into her own apartment in the Transitional Living Center at Choteau Activities in November, 1994. She moved out of TLC into her own apartment at Sunset Court Apartments in November of 95.

Charlene inherited a strong work ethic and worked numerous jobs including Town Pump Restaurant in Shelby, Dishwasher at Log Cabin, and merchandiser at Full Circle Thrift Shop. Charlene loved work so much she would put in for vacation days and come to work anyways.

Charlene especially loved getting her hair cut and colored and would come show off her "purple" hair as she would call it. She became very close with her hairdressers over the years (Susie Durocher, Collete Yeager and Peggy Archer).

Birthdays were a very special time for Charlene and she always looked forward to a beautiful bouquet each year from her brother Al. His son, Jay carried on that tradition after Al passed away and Charlene always delighted in showing them off.

Charlene's visits from her brother Al were very special. If you saw Charlene running, that usually meant her brother Al was here. His family, Judy and the kids, were very special to her as well. She would follow the girls' softball games and events on Facebook. A cookbook that Judy made with family recipes was very dear to Charlene.

Charlene loved to support her favorite sports teams (49ers, Griz, and the Bobcats.) She loved to get decked out in her team gear from head to toe. She would always point out to staff when their kids were in the paper for a Bulldogs event and say, "I hope those boys/ girls do good this week!" During home football games, she would take her lawn chair over and watch the games with her friends from the end zone.

Charlene had many activities she enjoyed such as Special Olympics, making crafts for her friends, reading and highlighting in her bible, and coloring in adult coloring books. She would color pictures for her friends, staff, and her favorite doctors. Saturday mornings you could find Charlene having breakfast at Outpost Deli with her friends.

Charlene had many friends at Choteau Activities and was proud to serve on the Board of Directors. Charlene will be dearly missed, but our hearts rejoice knowing she is with her sister Pearl, her brother Al, and her good friend Byron.

A celebration of Charlene's life will be held Friday, October 4, 2019 at 11 AM at Gorder-Jensen Funeral Home Chapel.

Condolences may be left on-line at www.gorderjensenfuneralhome.com