Anita Ludwig

Mrs. Anita Marie Ludwig, 84, of Louisiana, Missouri, passed away Thursday, June 14, 2012, at the DePaul Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. The family will host a reception for friends to remember and celebrate her life at the family home, 1401 Georgia Street on Monday evening, July 2, from 5:00-8:00 PM. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 3, at the Centenary United Methodist Church in Louisiana with Rev. Jeanne Webdell officiating. Burial will follow in the Riverview Cemetery in Louisiana. Anita was born December 15, 1927, in Duluth, Minnesota, to John and Helen (Larson) Nelson. She married Edwin Snyder Ludwig in 1949 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, who preceded her in death in 1983. Anita is survived by three sons: Charles Ludwig and wife, Martha of St. Louis, Missouri; John Ludwig and wife, Claudia, of Brea, California; and William Ludwig and wife, Kathleen, of Shingle Springs, California; three daughters: Debra Ledwith and husband, Drew, of Marlborough, Connecticut; Marcia Schaub and husband, Bob, of Ada, Michigan; and Elise Hopper and husband, Randy, of Midland, Michigan; and 10 grandchildren. She was preceded in death by a brother, R. C. "Chuck" Nelson, in 1997, and by a grandson, Adam Ludwig, in 1984. Anita received her Bachelor's Degree from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1949. Her husband, Ed, had worked at various Hercules plants in California, New Jersey, and Alabama prior to his transfer to Louisiana, Missouri, in 1970. Anita was very active in the community. She had a long history of volunteering with the Girl Scouts, beginning in the 1950’s as a Brownie leader in California, continuing her work in Alabama, and most recently, serving with the Becky Thatcher Girl Scout Council of Eastern Missouri. In 1979, she and her husband received the Scout Family of the Year Award. She was a charter member of the Raintree Theater Guild in Clarksville, Missouri, and helped that organization convert the Apple Shed into a Fine Arts Center for Pike and Lincoln counties. In 1981, she and her husband were honored with the Rotary Club’s "Citizens of the Year" award. In more recent years, she served as President of the Louisiana Historic Preservation Association in Louisiana and received the 2004 McReynolds Award, a state-wide recognition for her historic preservation activities. She purchased and restored the Governor Stark Mansion on Georgia Street in Louisiana and was instrumental in listing the Georgia Street Historic District on the National Register of Historic Places. She also saved many other historic buildings from ruin: the Tulley Building, Grand Central Hotel, the Chicago and Alton Railroad Depot, and three houses that later became bed and breakfast businesses. She had been an active member of the Centenary United Methodist Church in Louisiana since 1970. Memorials may be given to Centenary United Methodist Church, Louisiana Historic Preservation Association, or the Raintree Theater Guild.

Anita Ludwig

December 15, 1927 - June 14, 2012