Anna Marion Uecker was born in Schenectady, N.Y., on Oct. 10, 1919, to Nellie and Augustus Smith. She was the last of 12 children to pass away, reuniting with her family on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, with a rosary in her hands.

Anna was raised in Schenectady, and after graduating from high school in 1938 went to work for General Electric for three years. She enlisted in the Army in 1943. She met Jim Uecker of Cashmere, Wash., who was also in the service, and they married in 1944 in Roswell, N.M. While in the Army, Anna was stationed overseas in Paris. She was discharged in l945 and her husband in l946, and they made their home in Cashmere.

Anna and Jim had three children, Chris, Tim and Jim Jr., whom they raised in Sunnyslope, outside of Wenatchee. Anna was very involved in PTA, Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts, and she also spent much of her time shuffling her children to their sports and band practices. She also worked at Uecker Brothers Motors in Cashmere.

Her three children were all married in the summer of 1972, and she and Jim Sr. went their separate ways. Anna went back to school and got her teaching degree at Central Washington University, meanwhile becoming a grandmother to Justin, Damian, Meggan, Cameron and Stefan. She decided to take her degree to Germany to help GIs get their high school diplomas. While there, three more grandchildren were born, Alex, Nancy and Ted. She traveled throughout Germany and also to Italy, England, France and Spain, and had many wonderful experiences.

Anna came back to the United States in 1984 and lived in several areas of the country with family. She loved traveling and seeing new places. In 1990, she decided to remain in Schenectady with her sister Doris, who was living alone. Anna and Doris had many friends in Schenectady and enjoyed each other’s company until Doris’ death in 2004.

Anna then came to Richland, Wash., to live with her son Jim and his wife Kerri for a couple of years before moving to Charbonneau in Kennewick, and then to Brookdale Wynwood, where Kerri works. She had made many friends there and loved going on joy rides with the other residents. She liked to meet new people and was very outgoing.

She is blessed with eight grandchildren, two granddaughters-in-law, one grandson-in-law and nine great-grandchildren.

A memorial for Anna will be held in the Chapel of Brookdale Wynwood in Richland on Monday, March 22, at 3 p.m., with a reception to follow.

A family gathering will be held Sunday, April 25, and burial will be at 10 a.m. Monday, April 26, in the Cashmere cemetery.

The family asks that any memorial donations be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.