Dorothy Maxine Pitzer

Dorothy (Dottie) Maxine Pitzer passed away peacefully on Saturday, April 8, 2023, in Fishers, Indiana with family at her side.  Dottie was born on April 3, 1928, in Cumberland, Maryland to the late Harvey Christopher (Chris) Elder and Evelyn Elder.

Dottie went to art school and worked as a bank teller in Baltimore, Maryland where she met her first husband Frederick (Fred) Hansen Anderson who was attending law school at the University of Maryland.  After they were married and Fred graduated from law school, they moved back to Cumberland where they raised their 3 children.  Only a week after her first daughter’s birth, Dottie’s only sister, Anne Christine Elder was killed in an automobile accident while attending Penn State University.

Dottie was a member of St Paul’s Lutheran Church.  She loved spending time with her extended family, teaching her daughters how to cook and sew, and volunteering as a leader for her daughters’ Brownie troop.

Dottie’s husband Fred passed away in 1992 after a long battle with heart disease. She found love again and married William (Bill) E. Pitzer in 1993.  They lived in St. Michaels Maryland enjoying friends and retirement until Bills unexpected illness.  After Bills death in 2011, Dottie moved to Fishers, Indiana where she was able to spend the last 12 years of her life with 6 of her 9 grandchildren and her daughter and son-in-law. Dottie loved to play bridge and card games and enjoyed them late into her life.

Dottie is survived by her children; Christine Kay Oelker (Jeffrey J. Oelker) of Fishers Indiana, Julie Anne Bower of Port Charlotte, Florida and Frederick Elder Anderson of Gales Ferry, Connecticut. She is also survived by 9 grandchildren: John Oelker, Erin Rissi, Matt Oelker, Mark Oelker, Daniel Oelker, Mary Herr, Kyle Hoffman, Drew Hoffman, and Se-Mi Anderson and 13 great-grandchildren (plus 2 more on the way).

A Memorial Mass will be held at St Louis de Montfort Catholic Church, 11441 Hague Rd Fishers IN 46038 on Thursday, April 13th. Public visitation will be at 12:00 noon with Mass following at 1 p.m.

In lieu of sending flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to the American Heart Association or the Alzheimer’s Association.