Ann Fjordbak

Mary Annette Tarter Fjordbak 

Ann was born in Dallas on June 25, 1925 to Carlos Logan Tarter and Ruth Ann (Born Elsie) Skinner Tarter. She descended from a delightful blend of stubborn, stoic English, frugal Scottish and some proud Irish. Ann went to her heavenly home on July 7, 2021. 

As a youngster, Ann was a tomboy and once fell off the roof onto a spiked iron fence, with few lasting injuries. Her mother contracted tuberculosis when Ann and her sister Margie were young, so they were sent to an aunt’s home in Iowa until their mother recuperated. 

After graduating from Crozier Tech High School in Dallas, in college she met and married Everitt Merlin Fjordbak, who was studying for the ministry. After college, they pastored a new small church in Calumet Iowa then moved to Dallas for dad to do his graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. Ann worked briefly for Oilwell Supply Company and Everitt served as an assistant pastor in the Assemblies of God church, then they moved to Lancaster to develop a church plant. 

Mom organized the women while dad worked with the men to add on to a modest frame church, using bois‘d arc posts cut from nearby woods for foundation support columns. Mom selected paint colors. Sons Ed and Tim were born. In 1952 they moved to pastor Lakewood Assembly in Dallas, which had only a few dozen parishioners, a small new building and a lot of debt. The congregation dwindled to about a dozen, then they rebuilt to eventually a thousand members. Steve was born and mom’s life then centered on overseeing the sons’ schooling, piano lessons, the boy’s chores and caring for her parents as they aged. Mom was proficient in the kitchen but it was not her favorite pastime. Dad bought a sewing machine for her. She never turned it on, but she insisted that our home was always decorated perfectly for the current style and that her boys were dressed properly. 

Despite her eloquence, Ann avoided large groups and crowds. She preferred the company of a small number of close friends and neighbors. Rather independent, she marched to her own drumbeat. She ran on her own schedule and was rarely on time for any meeting. Her standards were high, and everything was to be neat, orderly and sparkling clean. Once when having a new house built, mom daily inspected the framing to make sure no sawdust was left between the walls before the wallboard was installed. It was hard to meet her standards. Ann was also dad’s critic-in-chief, doing post-sermon reviews about how he could have said something in a better way, and was his built-in book critic. 

She was an avid reader of the Bible and any periodical she could find, and a good writer. She often sent letters and cards of encouragement, congratulations and instructions to family, friends and parishioners. Dad died in 2008. Mom carried on stoically as was her habit. When son Dr. Tim Fjordbak was murdered by a deranged patient, her characteristic stoic nature quickly kicked in and she put it behind her, feeling empathy for the family of the perpetrator who subsequently committed suicide. She was strong-willed and able to put things into a positive perspective, and did not hold a grudge or speak unkindly about anyone. Prayer was her solace and connection with God. 

Mom traveled with dad to the Holy Land, Europe, Alaska, and loved vacations with the family in the mountains of Colorado. But before eating in a restaurant on vacation, she insisted on inspecting the kitchen. 

Mom had considered making it to 100 to surpass her mother’s 98 years. In the last few years her short-term memory faded, but her eloquent speech, long-term memory and acute observations often surprised us. 

Ann is predeceased by her parents, husband Everitt, son Dr. Tim Fjordbak, brothers Charles and Edward. Survivors include a dozen very close friends, sons Ed (Sharon) and their daughter Felicia Manno; Steve (Patty) and their children Michael, Matthew, and Lauren McEndree (Chris); sister Margie Hicks; great grandsons Ezra McEndree and Greyson Alesia; great granddaughter Greer Alesia, nieces Dr. Margie (Sis) Hicks Kerman and Anne Hicks Higginbotham (Jerry), nephew Jackie Hicks, grand nephew Ben Kerman, a host of nieces and nephews among the Tarter, Hicks and Fjordbak families, and long-time close friends Billy Bentsen, Sondra Wilson, Howard and Joyce Strange, the late Martha McNellis and Alan and Michelle Williams, Carol Lawson, the Moye family, the Dan Reed family, the Searcy family, Linda Renfro, and many others Ann considered close comrades who she respected and loved as family. 

Pallbearers include Ed Fjordbak, Steve Fjordbak, Matthew Fjordbak, Michael Fjordbak, Chris McEndree and Alan Williams. Music by Michelle Williams. 

Caretakers Henrietta Neal, Edwina Toliver, Charlotte Cornelius and Elizabeth Cornelius gave her companionship and care, which was especially critical during the COVID-19 lockdown at The Landon where she lived for the past seven years. 

A visitation with the family will be held on Saturday, July 17 at 11 am with a funeral service at noon in the main building, Restland, 13005 Greenville Ave. with a brief graveside service following. Ann will be buried next to her parents, husband, and son Tim.