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Helen O. Anderson

Founder of Surf Realty

    Helen Anderson, a longtime resident of South Fairview Avenue in Montauk, died at the Heritage Hill Senior Community in Weatherly, Pa., on July 11. She was 91.

    In 1984, two years after she retired to Montauk, Mrs. Anderson founded Surf Realty, a real estate business that focused solely on Montauk properties, and still does today.

    Mrs. Anderson was born in Queens in 1919 to Leon Olszweski and the former Mary Ann Smolenska. She was a graduate of Hofstra University, with a degree in business education, and studied toward an M.B.A. at Adelphi University. She was a member of Phi Alpha Sigma and Alpha Sigma Lambda, two national honor societies, and went on to become an instructor at Suffolk Community College.

    She and her husband, Henry V. Anderson, raised their family in Dix Hills. For over 40 years, Mrs. Anderson functioned in a management capacity at Hartmann Systems of Dix Hills, Standard Oil of New Jersey, and the Radio Corporation of America (R.C.A.) and the United Nations, both in New York City. Her husband was a New York City police detective.

    When Mr. and Mrs. Anderson retired in 1982, they moved to Montauk. Mrs. Anderson was active in the community and was a member of the Montauk Village Association, Concerned Citizens of Montauk, Friends of the Montauk Library, and St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church. She loved to write. Several of her articles appeared in local publications, and she was a member of the Montauk Writes writing club, and volunteered as a literacy teacher at the Montauk Library.

    Her husband died in 1994. Mrs. Anderson is survived by her three children, Christopher H. Anderson of Boonton Township, N.J., and Montauk, Pamela T. Kydes of Arlington, Va., and Denise H. Konopka of Lafayette, N.J. She also leaves five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

    Mrs. Anderson will be buried next to her husband, a veteran of World War II, at Calverton National Cemetery.

    A memorial Mass will be celebrated on Saturday at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Weatherly, Pa.

    The family has requested that donations in Mrs. Anderson’s memory be sent to the Heritage Hill Senior Community, 800 6th Street, Weatherly, Pa. 18255, attention Denise Langman, executive director.

    Those who would care to send condolences or memories to the family can do so online at www.griffithsfuneralhomes.com.

 

 

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