Anna Mae was born in Wren, Oregon, on April 26,1929 to Herman Norton Abercrombie and Elizabeth Alice Lehnert. She married Gale Waller in August 1975. He passed away in January 2003.
Anna Mae passed away at home on Nov. 18, 2022 in Brinnon, Wash., where she resided for the last 17 years.
She is survived by her 10 children: Jerry Melheim of Shelton, Wash.; Cliff Melheim of Tempe, Ariz.; Ron Melheim of Port Townsend, Wash.; Ken Melheim of Sequim, Wash.; Cheryl McGaw
of Sevierville, Tenn.; Mike Melheim of Brinnon, Wash.; Becky Duke of Mt. Juliet, Tenn.; Patty Phillips of Vancouver, Wash.; Tom Melheim of Encinitas, Calif.; and Greg Melheim of Chimacum, Wash. She is also survived by a sister Charlotte Hart of Corvallis, Ore.; a brother Herman "Junior "Abercrombie of Roseburg, Ore.; 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren; as well as her Brinnon Community Church "Family."
Anna Mae graduated from Philomath High School in 1947 as class valedictorian. She worked numerous jobs throughout her life, from picking hops to driving a taxi to being the owner/operator of "The Alteration Shop" in Columbia, Tennessee, where she lived for 14 years. She taught her daughters Becky and Patty to do alterations. They both currently own and operate their own alteration businesses.
Anna Mae loved to travel, visit family, read and sew. Her greatest passion was her children. She and Gale enjoyed participating in a bowling league when they lived in Lemon Grove, California, for 11 years.
