FARMINGTON – Anita Segersten Koertge, 89, of Wilton, formerly of Nyack, N.Y., passed away gently on March 25, at Franklin Memorial Hospital after a short illness. She was luminous at the end.

She was born on April 7, 1915, in Nyack, N.Y., the daughter of Laura Ulrika Nordgren Segersten and Charles Augustus Johansson Segersten, both Swedish immigrants. She was a graduate of the Nyack School System, New Paltz College and New York University, and began her teaching career in a two-room schoolhouse when she was less than 20 years old and too young to vote. She continued to study and to teach elementary school, particularly kindergarten, throughout her career. She modeled lifelong learning.

She taught peace and tolerance in her home and her classrooms, and her friends knew her by her gracious, non-judgmental acceptance and her willing ear. In the 1950s, she was instrumental in starting the first special education services in Rockland County, N.Y., hosting bake sales to raise funding for a classroom in a church basement. The organization continues today as the Board of Cooperative Educational Services. She wanted to ensure that all of her children received a good education.

She moved to Wilton in 1990, and became a member of the First Congregational Church. During her retirement she was a member of the Nanuet N.Y., Women’s Club, the Wiltonians and the Garden Clubs in both Nanuet and Farmington. She traveled, visiting her parents’ homeland and places as far away as New Zealand. She made her debut as a church soloist at age 3, and passed her love for music on to her children and to her grandchildren.

Her survivors include her loving daughters, Pat Koertge of Rumford and Barbara Meldrum of Wilton; her grandsons, Nils Devine of Los Angeles, Leif Devine of Farmington and Noah Meldrum of Wilton; her niece, Susan M. Richards of Va.; and her nephews, Richard and Robert McIntyre of New York and Connecticut.

She was predeceased by her husband, George William; her daughter, Linda; her son, William “Billy;” her sister, Laura S. McIntyre of Nanuet, N.Y.; and her brother, Charles Lennart Segersten of Arizona.

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