Anita Maxine Foster

Born the twenty-sixth day of April, 1924, in Holly, Colorado, the fourth of five children to Edith and James O. Taylor, Anita Maxine Taylor Foster joined other family members in the presence of our Lord the ninth day of August, 2019. Anita will be best be remembered as a kind-hearted woman with an ever-present smile and piercing brown eyes which immediately connected one as her friend and family. Anita drew people to her with her abounding sincerity. One knew you could trust her and would always find her willing to sit and listen over chocolate cake or a bowl of sherbet. Her quiet demeanor made it seem easy to set up and run a household, belying the fact that she set up a new household in over ten cities in her sixty-eight years of marriage to Richard A. Foster. Anita Maxine Taylor graduated from Shawnee High School in May of 1942, attended a business school, then enlisted in the Women’s Army Corps on her birthday in 1944. Stationed at Tinker Field as a clerk, she met Second Lieutenant Richard A. “Dick” Foster. They were married on April 8, 1945 at her home church, First Christian Church of Shawnee, Oklahoma. Anita left the WACs at the end of World War II, but not before earning the American Theatre Campaign Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and a Victory Ribbon. Anita and Dick raised three boys, Richard Lynn, Mark Edward, and James Scott. She instilled confidence, a faith in God through His son, Jesus Christ, and a love for home and family into her sons, so that they have become loving husbands and fathers. When the three sons were grown, Anita embarked on a sales career with Montgomery Wards in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Upon Dick and Anita’s retirements, they moved to Yukon, Oklahoma to be closer to Anita’s siblings. The two remained in Yukon until Dick’s passing in 2014. Anita moved to the Norman Veterans Center, where capable and loving staff cared for her until her departure from Earth. Even upon death, Anita was honored as a person and veteran with a touching Farewell Service at the Center: her flag-draped body was paraded through the halls as a recording of pipes played “Amazing Grace”, followed by TAPS while veterans saluted her. Anita’s family is very appreciative of the care and honor she received at the Norman Veterans Center. Anita Maxine Foster was preceded in death by her husband, Richard A. Foster, brothers George and John Taylor, sisters Wilda Williams and Virginia Sperry, and nephew David Sperry. She is survived by her three sons and their wives, seven grandchildren, and eleven great grandchildren.