Waynetta Fern Anderson

Waynetta Fern Anderson (Candy Lemon) died at 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, December 18, 2022, at her home of 19 years in Apache Junction, AZ surrounded by many of her family.  A memorial service will be at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday February 19, 2023, at Vandemore Funeral Homes & Crematory – Geneseo Chapel. Reverend Terry Lancaster will officiate.  The memorial service will be livestreamed at www.vandemorefuneralhome.com/live-stream.  The memorial visitation will be 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m., prior to the service.  Memorials may be directed to St Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html) or the Alzheimer’s Association (https://alzfdn.org/).

Waynetta was born September 1, 1935, in Aledo, IL, the daughter of Wayne and Neva (Crook) Lemon.   She was best known as ‘Candy’, a nickname given to her when she worked at an insurance agency delivering mail to 4 floors of the building. There were candy machines on each floor, and she was always buying candy.  She had lifelong asthma and was able to breathe much better in Arizona than in Illinois where she lived for most of her life, growing up in Aledo, IL. She always had a warm smile for everyone she met and a kind word. Christmas was her favorite time of year, and she would sing while wrapping gifts and decorating with the family.  She attended rural Aledo schools and at one point rode a horse to school with her brother Larry. She graduated from Aledo High School in the class of 1953 and worked in the Quad City area for a time after graduation. She returned to the Geneseo, IL area after living in San Diego, California for a brief time working for Solar Aircraft Company. She continued to live in Geneseo selling real estate in the area for over 20 years and later working for GWK Enterprises. She was of the Methodist faith, having served at one time as a Trustee for the First United Methodist Church in Geneseo. 

Her lifelong struggle with asthma and 5-year battle with Alzheimer’s came to a peaceful end at her home. This happened approximately 16 hours after returning home from the hospital.

She is survived by her husband, Richard Anderson, brother Neil Lemon of Aledo, daughters Deb (Ki) Wirth of Geneseo and Monica (Scott) Bonynge of Colorado Springs, and son Jason (Kim) Anderson of Racine, Wisconsin, and stepsons Mike (Mary) Anderson of Orlando FL. and Marty (Teresa) Anderson of Plainfield, IL. She is also survived by 5 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren- Amy (Joe) Cainkar, Crystal (Jessie) Parsons, Ronnie (Kerri Jo) Stage, Joshua Anderson, Jenna Anderson, Scarlett Cainkar, and Dominick Cainkar.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her 2 sisters, Kathy Jackson and Linda Hobart and brother Larry Lemon and her son Billy Boone on August 31, 2021.

The family wants to give a special thanks to her caregivers for their help and support over the past few months.