Angela Faye (Lenning/Eldridge) Anderton, age 67, passed away June 9, 2021 in Florida of complications following surgery. Angie was born in Indiana on October 17, 1953 to Arthur and Ila Anderton, and was the 4th of their 5 children. Ila, who was 1/2 Ojibwe Indian, took the 5 children and left her husband in the early 60's. Ila's car broke down around Des Moines, IA, and because she had no money to fix the car or feed the children, the state stepped in. It was not uncommon in those days for the state/government agencies to try and get all Native American children into the public school system. After putting Ila on a bus back to Indiana, the children were put into the Foster Care System in Des Moines. Angie was fostered to Jim and Betty Lenning in rural Humboldt around 1965, where she remained until her graduation from Humboldt High School in 1973.
After graduation Angie got a job working on a farm NE of Humboldt. In 1978 she met and married Lyle Eldridge, a long-haul truck driver, and became stepmom to his 5 children. This union later ended in divorce.
In the late 80's or early 90's Angie was involved in a car accident that caused injuries resulting in long term pain. On the advice of a friend, Angie tried massage therapy to manage the pain. She was so impressed with the results that she enrolled in a massage therapy college in Cedar Rapids so she could learn more about massage therapy and how it worked. After graduation Angie became a licensed massage therapist and opened her own practice in Fort Dodge. Eventually with help from her friend Pat (Rogness) Hill, Angie opened the NW College of Massage Therapy in F.D. where she began teaching massage therapy to others. Area hospitals and doctors called on her often because of her extensive knowledge of massage therapy. Angie also became a member of the state board that set the standards for massage therapy licensing.
After Angie's divorce in 2000 she went back to her original maiden name of Anderton. She moved to AZ, and later to FL to be near her close friend from high school, Barb (Fortner) Kruck. Due to Diabetes Angie had become legally blind before her death.
Sources: Virginia (Johnson) Horn, Barb (Fortner) Kruck, and Pat (Rogness) Hill
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