Anita Anderson
Anita Anderson nee Sarich (October 15, 1913 – May 21, 2004) was born in Phoenix, BC to Croatian immigrants. Her father mined in Princeton, Hedley, Copper Mountain, and in South Dakota while her mother ran a boarding house in Pheonix. Her mother became bedridden when she was just a small child and died around 1917. Her father had previously been diagnosed with silicosis. He moved the family to Saskatchewan to take up farming, however, his health declined and he died there in 1918. Two of her older sisters stayed in Saskatchewan, but the rest of the family returned to Pheonix. Anita moved to Vancouver with her sister, Marion, as young girls, to work as domestics. Later Anita became a busgirl and organized for the HREU at the Trocadero Cafe. She was eventually fired and blacklisted along with other organizers. She continued to work for the HREU until she moved to Dawson City, Yukon, and married Arne Andersen in 1945. In 1956, Anita and her three children moved to New Westminster where she remained the rest of her life. Anita worked locally with the Jubilee Summer Camp, the Yugoslavian community, with consumer organizations, as an AVON Lady, and as a sales clerk in Woodwards and Fields. Anita worked globally as a peace activist, political /social rights advocate, and humanitarian.