Annrita Lardy

MADISON-Annrita Lardy, age 95, of Madison passed away Monday, August 28, 2017. She was born January 6, 1922 in Aberdeen, South Dakota, the daughter of Clarence and Rose (Dempsey) Dresselhuys. Her mother died when Annrita was two, and Clarence’s second wife, Violet (Croal), became her true mother. Idyllic times at Tacoma Park on the James River in the summer helped create a life-long love of the out-of-doors, while the hardships of the depression fostered the frugal side that her own family knew so well.   Annrita ventured to UW-Madison in 1940, arriving after classes started with no job and no funds. Using her renowned powers of persuasion, Annrita got a scholarship when no scholarship funds remained and soon found a job as well. She was drawn to UW by her brother Richard and his friend, Henry Lardy, a biochemistry graduate student who would go on to a storied career at UW. She married Henry on January 2, 1943 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. They celebrated their wedding by dancing in the jazz clubs of Harlem, a harbinger of the active life they would lead together. They raised four children on Madison’s far west side, where they might have been seen riding their horses to the Pancake House on Midvale Boulevard or cross-country skiing to dinner at the Hatchcover. Dancing, riding, tennis, water skiing, canoeing, biking, skating, and downhill and cross-country skiing were pursued with a passion. Annrita continued to bike, ski, and dance into her 90s. In 1963 Hank and Annrita purchased the farm on which Annrita’s step-mother had been raised. The “Sauk farm” became the focal point of their recreational life and the site for innumerable gatherings of family and friends. Beyond her family, Annrita’s life in Madison was dedicated to community service. She was named a “Know Your Madisonian” by the Wisconsin State Journal and she was awarded a Rotary Senior Service Award, and a YWCA “Woman of Distinction” award. Her leadership roles included stints as President of the Visiting Nurse Service, Attic Angels Association, and the South Madison Day Care Center, as well as serving numerous other organizations including Child Development Inc. and the United Way.  She served for seven years as the State Legislative Chairman of the League of Women Voters. She was appointed by the legislature to serve on the Gold Ribbon Committee on State Fiscal Policy, appointed by Governor Thompson to the Task Force on Elementary and Secondary Education, and was Vice Chairman of the State Ethics Board. Annrita is survived by her four children, Nicholas (Barbara) Lardy of Washington, D.C. and their two daughters Elizabeth (Tim) Repass of Seattle, Wash., and Lillian (Henry) Brownstein of Washington D.C.; Diana Lardy of Madison; Jeffrey Lardy of Monona and his daughter Amelia of Madison; and,  Michael (Cindy) Lardy of Montello, and their three children, Erin of New York City, Henry Austin of New York City, and Kirstin, a student in Edinburgh, Scotland. Annrita enjoyed being “GG” to her great granddaughters, Emerson, Charlotte, Evelyn and Georgia. Annrita is also survived by two brothers, Donn Dresselhuys of Fish Creek, Wis. and Naples, Fl., and Tom Dresselhuys of San Diego, Calif.. She was preceded in death by her husband Henry; and three brothers, George, Richard, and Ed Dresselhuys. Annrita’s family offers heartfelt thanks to Jewel and Lotte for the loving care they provided her, and to Noah, and the R.N.’s and CNA’s of Agrace HospiceCare and Senior Helpers, for their kind service. A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017 at 11 a.m. at Monona Terrace in the Community Terrace Room. More information on the service and online condolences may be made at www.gundersonfh.com. Memorials in Annrita’s name may be made to the United Way of Dane County, 2059 Atwood Avenue, Madison, WI 53704 or to the Agrace HospiceCare Foundation, 5395 E.Cheryl Pkwy, Fitchburg, WI 53711. Gunderson WestFuneral & Cremation Care7435 University Avenue(608)831-6761