Carolyn Sue (Josties) Anderson was born June 7, 1933 to Susie Baker Josties and Frederick Orville Josties in Hastings, Nebraska. She died April 20, 2021 at her home in Lincoln. She graduated from Hastings High School in 1951 and received a B.A. Summa cum laude from Hastings College in 1955. She earned three M.A. degrees: one in English from the University of Chicago, one in Education from U.C.L.A., one in Sociology from U.C.L.A. Her Ph.D. was in Sociology from U.C.L.A. She studied Spanish at CIDOC, Escuela de Idiomas, Cuernavaca, Mexico Her first job was as a corn detasseler for 60 cents an hour. She worked as a waitress, an ad writer, and a window decorator. She taught elementary school in Harvey, IL, Hammond, IN, and Cherry Creek School District #5, near Denver. She was a PTA room mother for 12 years in Santa Monica. At U.C.L.A., Cara worked as Assistant to the Director of the Institute of Industrial Relations. She served as the National Coordinator of the Multi-Cities Study on Urban Poverty, coordinating research in Detroit, Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. While at U.C.L.A., she researched and wrote and edited papers and books on labor/management topics. After 30 years she re-met and married her high school sweetheart, Coach Cal Bentz and moved back to Nebraska where she taught at UNL. She authored Kids Count in Nebraska, wrote publications on adolescent alcohol use data, conducted demographic research on Nebraska children and families and taught graduate research methods. Cal and Cara founded The League of Little Old Ladies and Lads, LOLL, devoted to encourage the active participation of other elderly voters to write letters on environmental and political issues. She was active in the Democratic Party, serving as a Lancaster County Delegate to State Democratic Conventions, and was a member of the Lancaster County Central Committee. She was a member of the ACLU, Common Cause, the Nature Conservancy, Wachiska Audubon, the Lincoln Garden Club, the Rose Society and First Plymouth Church. She is survived by her children Jane Elizabeth (Gareth Canaan) Anderson, Abigail Baker Anderson and Molly Sue Anderson; her grandsons Isaac Aloysious Anderson, Gabriel Limon Anderson, and Noel Harold Canaan; her sister Winifred Tierney; her brother Jerry (Esther) Josties, and many beloved nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her son George Gunnar Anderson, and her husband Cal Bentz of Lincoln. She loved her family, friends, gardening and reading. Memorials services will be held at First Plymouth-Congregational Church, 2000 “D” Street, 11:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 4, 2021. The service will be live streamed at https://vimeo.com/event/933865/172d008bae. Condolences may be left at trumpmemorials.com. Trump Funeral Services, 1600 West “O” Street, Lincoln, NE 68528.
|
|
Sending my deepest condolences to you Posey and your family. Cara was a sweetheart and I’m blessed to have been a Caregiver to her. You did an amazing job caring for her and it showed that she loved you dearly.