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The friends of Kathy Hughes Anderson, former Atherton arborist who was murdered in her Menlo Park home in 2018, don't want her defined by her death. Instead, they hope that she'll be remembered for her generosity and hard work for the town of Atherton.
Pam Gomez met Hughes Anderson in 1990 when they worked for the town of Atherton, where Hughes Anderson was employed from 1989 to her retirement in 2011. Gomez said that Hughes Anderson was deeply passionate about her work as the town arborist, and was instrumental in preserving the heritage trees seen today. Gomez said she used to call Hughes Anderson “the máquina,” or machine in Spanish.
“If there was something to be done in the town, she'd be the first person out there with her boots on and her gloves,” Gomez said. “And she just was a very hard worker, and very highly intelligent.”
Not only a hard worker, Hughes Anderson was always ready to lend a hand to any residents who wanted help, Gomez said.
“If anybody needed her in the town of Atherton, she was out there helping them,” Gomez said. “She was very giving that way. … It's just her nature. She had such a kind, thoughtful nature. Everybody always spoke highly of her.”
Gomez and Hughes Anderson were both members of the Los Trancos Woods Community Marching Band, where Diantha Stensrud met Hughes Anderson. Both Gomez and Stensrud fondly recall their time marching with Hughes Anderson, and the meals that the group would have at Rossotti's Alpine Inn.
Hughes Anderson traveled widely with her husband, Bill "Andy" Anderson, who died in 2007 at age 64 due to complications from leukemia. According to Gomez and Stensrud, Hughes Anderson and her husband traveled to Costa Rica, Hawaii, Scotland, England and all throughout the contiguous United States.
Gomez fondly recalls joining Hughes Anderson and her husband on the trip to Costa Rica, traveling the rainforest and going deep-sea fishing together, where Hughes Anderson caught a large sailfish.
Some of the clearest memories both Gomez and Stensrud have of Hughes Anderson were of her parties. Hughes Anderson would host holiday parties and a big summer barbecue. Stensrud said she remembers talking to Hughes Anderson in the kitchen at these parties, where her cooking expertise really shone. Stensrud said that Hughes Anderson was immediately welcoming, and that her green tomato pie was the highlight. Gomez recalled that Hughes Anderson also made delicious fried green tomatoes, with both recipes using tomatoes from Hughes Anderson’s garden.
Hughes Anderson hosted holiday parties for people who didn’t have a family to go to, according to Stensrud.
The most prominent personality trait, according to her friends, was Hughes Anderson's kindness. Stensrud said that Hughes Anderson was someone that she could always count on when she came into town.
“She was like a sister to me,” Gomez said. “She was somebody that I called up, somebody that I trusted.”
Hughes Anderson, 62, was apparently chosen at random by Ohio resident Francis Wolke in December 2018 and brutally slain inside her home on Valparaiso Avenue. Wolke, 30, was convicted of her first-degree murder last month, and faces sentencing in May.
Gomez considered her relationship with Hughes Anderson one of her most treasured friendships.
“She had so much more to offer, so many more years to offer and she had so many friends … everybody loved her. I’d never heard anybody say anything negative about her in all the years,” Gomez said.
Hughes Anderson didn’t have any kids of her own, but both Gomez and Stensrud describe her as immensely generous to her nieces and nephews and the children of her friends. Gomez recalled that Hughes Anderson dropped everything to do the flowers for her daughter’s wedding completely free of charge.
“She always did it out of the kindness of her heart,” Gomez said. “You never had to give her anything in return, it was always because she wanted to do it, and those are the kinds of people you always want in your life.”
Stensrud remembers that she went to Hughes Anderson’s home right after she died, only to find boxes that Hughes Anderson was getting ready to mail to Stensrud’s nieces.
Gomez and Stensrud still continue a tradition started by Hughes Anderson, a monthly brunch to celebrate birthdays for the group of friends. The two still go out for lunch to celebrate Hughes Anderson’s birthday.
“She’s always in my heart,” Gomez said. “She will never be forgotten.”
