Ernestine "Punch" Anderson

As we retrace the footprints of Ernestine Anderson, we can only give thanks for the many lives she touched and enriched along life’s journey. A meek and humble woman, she was blessed to enjoy many of God’s blessings as a child, a wife, and a mother. It all began on April 9, 1929, in Princeton, Arkansas when Raymond and Mary Lock House celebrated the birth of a new daughter, their ninth child they named Ernestine. She accepted Christ at a tender and united with the Eastern Star Baptist Church family. “Punch” as she was affectionately called by her family and friends grew up to be a loving, kind and intelligent young woman. Believing God’s Word,”….and the two shall become one flesh….” she became Mrs. Ernestine Anderson when she married her sweetheart and one true love, Mr. William “Bud” Anderson and together they laid a solid foundation for family life based on love, commitment, and Christian values. They later became proud parents of four caring and devoted children. They were married for twenty-three years until his demise. Ernestine was a part of that generation that counted motherhood as a virtue because mothers knew the difference between a house and home. So Ernestine’s golden accomplishment in life was to make a loving home that would produce a tapestry of memories her family would forever cherish. She was that warm hand on a cold morning; that voice of wisdom and reason when the world was upside-down; that vessel of hope that carried loved ones and friends safely across rivers of change in their lives and that prayerful servant who blessed the Lord at all times, even until her last breath. William and Ernestine owned and operated one of Smithton’s first black businesses – Anderson Grocery and Service Station for several years. Her faith always presented a bright lighthouse in her life and the life of her family. Ernestine was a faithful member Eastern Star Baptist Church where she served dutifully and as a mother on the mother’s board. She worked for the Clark County Nursing Home for many years and later International Paper Company and Owens-Illinois Packing Company in Charlotte, Michigan where she later retired. After retirement, she moved back to Gurdon and worked with the Green Thumb Program at Gurdon Middle School and baby-sat for severeal families in the Gurdon Community. She later returned to Michigan and worked as a foster grandmother at Reo Elementary School in Lansing where she was lovingly called “Muffin and Little”. She loved children and they loved her. In her 79th season of life, Ernestine received her blessing of immortality on Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at St. John Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She was welcomed home by her husband, parents, two sisters, and five brothers. She leaves to celebrate and honor her life’s journey: one son, Roy Chester (Cathy) Anderson of Columbus, GA; three daughters, Bobbie (Donald) Smith of Atlanta, GA, Mary (Richard) Marsh of Detroit, MI, and Tammy Anderson of Gurdon, AR; ten grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren; two brothers, Hoza (Edna) House of San Diego, CA, and Roosevelt (Wilma) House of Gurdon, AR; three sisters, Maxine Albert, Bertha Mae Anderson, Lillie B. Anderson all of Gurdon, AR; sisters-in-law, Mildred Anderson, Judy House, Ernestine Matthewson and Lizzie Anderson; and a host of nieces, nephews, other relatives, numerous friends and the Eastern Star Baptist Church family. Mrs. Anderson will lie in state at Williams Funeral Home on Friday, April 17, 2009 from 12:00 noon unitl 6:00 p.m. The Anderson family will bid her farewell on Saturday, April 18, 2009 at 11:00 a.m. in the sanctuary of Eastern Star Baptist Church where Rev. Marshall Allen the pastor will preach a message of comfort. The body will lie in state one hour prior to services. The commital service and final resting place will be in Rose Hedge Cemetery in Gurdon, Arkansas. Bearers of the casket will be Devon Miller, Parrish Marsh, Kenneth House, Theodore House, Lamar Jackson, Roosevelt Payne, Odray Anderson and Aundra Anderson. Honorary bearers will be Alfred Brown, S. McCelland, V. Gulley, Otis Duncan, Willie Giles, Jr., and Ollie Robinson.