Civic leader Wandesforde dies

Lee Scrivner

Thursday, Aug. 17, 2000 | 9 a.m.

Ann Wandesforde lived on the Sahara Nevada Golf Course and was fond of throwing lavish parties when famous golfers were in town, but she will be remembered as more than just a socialite.

"She will be remembered for her hard work and dedication as a wife, mother and volunteer," her daughter Carol Gordon said.

Ann Tait Wandesforde died Aug. 8 of natural causes at Riverside Health Care Center in Missoula, Mont. She was 83.

Wandesforde was president of the Home of the Good Shepherd auxiliary and the auxiliary for Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital, now University Medical Center, where she logged more than 2,000 hours of community service. She was also a member of the Mesquite Club and the Las Vegas Country Club.

She was born Aug. 12, 1916, in Seattle, Wash.

A daughter of Scottish emigrants, Wandesforde remained proud of her Scottish heritage throughout her life, Gordon said.

In 1939 she married Harold Wandesforde, who died in March 1999 after 60 years of marriage.

After Wandesforde and her husband moved to Las Vegas in 1961, her husband became vice president of Title Insurance and Trust Co. and president of Pioneer Title and Insurance Co. During that time he completed title paperwork for gaming properties bought by Howard Hughes.

Wandesforde's husband also served as president of the local United Way and was a Nevada ambassador for tourism in Europe in the 1960s.

In addition to Gordon of Missoula, Ann Wandesforde is survived by a daughter, Barbara Ford of Boise, Idaho; three grandsons and five great-grandsons.

Private cremation services were handled by Garden City Funeral Home.

The family requests that memorials be sent to Partners Hospice, 500 N. Higgins, Suite 201, Missoula, MT 59802.