Our beautiful mother, Annette Coneglio Anderson, wife of Charles M. Anderson, passed quietly into the nearer presence of the Lord on June 14, 2022. She was a believer: in the Holy Trinity and the communion of saints, especially in the loving protection and intercession of the Blessed Virgin; in people and their potential to lead lives of learning and fulfillment; in her marriage, which lasted 57 years, and in her children—for whom no dream was ever too late, and nothing was impossible.

She was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on June 8, 1941, to the late Joseph A. Coneglio and Rosemary Coneglio, and grew up in an extended family and close-knit community of Italian Americans. At a time when it was not typical for women to attend college, she was a (proud) graduate of Bowling Green State University, where she earned a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1962. Her Sicilian heritage was always vital to her—as was her passion for sports, which she carried lifelong as a heartbreak devotion to her Cleveland teams. No one believed more in next year, and in the Indians and the Browns, than she did.

She moved to Wilmington, NC in 1976, and immersed herself into the life of the community—first as the church secretary at St. Mary's, from which perch she did everything from writing the bulletins to herding both the nuns and the kids at St. Mary's School, and then in several roles at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, where she was instrumental in multiple outreach and educational initiatives. These—the Thalian Association and the creation of the Wilmington Walk of Fame are among a host of them—were bound together by her passions for adult education, creativity, and community building and celebration. When she moved to Burgaw in 1989, she threw herself into life there with the same spirit, and the same belief in the potential of people and places.

No obituary would be complete without mentioning her love of Amazon Prime deliveries, burnt toast, peanut butter, and trashy novels; the bunker-like pile of unopened, always-expired bottles of salad dressing crammed in her fridge; her still-mysterious recipe for making braciole; vacuuming; and, especially, her thing for new cars (after two years a car was all used up, like Joe Charboneau in 1981: it needed to be traded). Also deserving special mention is her luck with hurricanes—she never had any. Most famously in family lore, in 1986 she drove her car to Fayetteville to stash it from Hurricane Charley and impending landfall. Charley dutifully skipped over her driveway at home, followed her to Fayetteville, and destroyed her car. Forthwith she acquired a new car.

She is survived by her husband, Charles M. Anderson of Cary, NC, whom she met in a newsroom straight out of college; by her children, Garth Anderson (Danielle) of Waterford, CT; Paul Anderson (Keri) of Clemson, SC; Kelly Eubank (Jay) of Raleigh, NC; and Christian Anderson (Carol) of Kissimmee, FL; and by her grandsons Nicholas Anderson, Aidan Anderson, Jack Eubank, Wiley Eubank, Collin Anderson, Corey Cruz, and Ryan Cruz. Her brother Joseph Coneglio, of Naples, FL, also survives her.

Annette was a devout Roman Catholic. Her faith centered her life and gave it meaning, power, and a mission of service. It gave her words to speak when she was able to speak—of prayer, and of love—and touched her with the ceaseless energy of the Holy Spirit when she could no longer move. It also sustained her endurance. The family is grateful for the medical, nursing, and emergency personnel of Burgaw and of Raleigh, and Cary, who ministered to her during her last years: know that she would have done the same for you, if she could have. She would have wanted everyone to know that we are all children of God, without bonds.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 am Monday June 20, 2022 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church. Monsignor Joseph Ntuwa will officiate and burial will follow in the church cemetery.