Obituary of Anita Folland

Anita Folland was born October 12, 1932 in Hallock, Minnesota, to Torger and Thelma Folland. She grew up on a farm near Halma with her brother, Ivan, and sister, Arlys. Her grandparents Isaac and Cecelia Folland lived in a separate part of the large farm house. Anita enjoyed all outdoor activities on the farm and many sports including softball. She attended a two-room school in Halma and graduated from Karlstad High school. Anita graduated from Deaconess Hospital School of Nursing. Anita served her country well as a nurse in the United States Air Force for 20 years, including stations overseas and at Travis Air Base in California during Vietnam. During the war, she routinely flew in planes stationed in California that were equipped to carry wounded soldiers from the battlefield to Tokyo for recovery and then accompanied severely wounded men back to the U.S. Anita was in the Philippines for some time in the late 60s, where her work was centered on caring for the Vietnam casualties. Other posts include Thule, Greenland; Anchorage, Alaska; Grand Forks, North Dakota; Minot, North Dakota; and San Antonio, Texas. Later in her Air Force career, she worked in the laboratory specializing in blood bank procedures. After she retired from the Air Force as a Major, she continued this work she enjoyed in the blood bank at Methodist Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Anita was always concerned for a healthy lifestyle and enjoyed the outdoors, hiking the area around San Antonio as a member of the American Volkssport Association. After relocating to Tucson, she continued to enjoy hiking with the Tucson Volkssport Klub, doing several six-mile Volksmarches in various scenic places in the Tucson area. She also enjoyed going to Catalina State Park where she did frequent walks. Anita was often concerned about the safety and welfare of animals in the area as well. Anita also volunteered her time at the Lutheran Thrift Store in Tucson, where over the ten years she was there the crew developed quite a bond and took great delight in knowing that the store profits were going to help a variety of programs in the city. Anita also was a longtime member of Resurrection Lutheran Church. Anita enjoyed bowling and achieved a 300 game in league play. When she could no longer hike, Anita stayed active playing wii bowling. She always enjoyed watching her Minnesota Vikings and kept up with various sports, especially college football and basketball. She also did a bit of quilting by hand, piecing several quilts and going to quilting sessions with her sister, Arlys. Anita loved her cats and especially her Sheltie, Gabby. Anita is survived by her brother, Ivan (Eunice) and sister Arlys Bjorke (Bruce) as well as many nieces and nephews.