* Evelyn Z. Anderson; Sportswear Maker

Longtime Ventura resident Evelyn Z. Anderson has died at the age of 85.

Anderson was born Oct. 2, 1912, in Saxon, Pa. In 1928, the then 16-year-old Anderson hitchhiked from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles, where she met her husband, a welder in the U.S. Navy.

Anderson learned to weld from her husband and became the first woman welder at the Long Beach Navy Shipyard during World War II, her family said. She worked on the ships that carried troops to war, they said.

“They even gave her a certificate showing they had dedicated a ship after her,” said Anderson’s daughter, Imogene McClester of Ventura.

Anderson was preceded in death by her husband, Harry “Andy” Anderson, three brothers and one sister.

Anderson moved to Ventura in 1944, where she managed Ventura Sportswear until 1962, McClester said. An expert seamstress, Anderson later owned and operated Glen Robin Sportswear, a manufacturer of children’s sportswear, in Ventura.

Anderson was an avid Los Angeles Dodgers fan and enjoyed quilting and gardening. She often went boating and fishing with her grandchildren at Lake Nacimiento near Santa Maria, McClester said.

In addition to McClester, Anderson is survived by two other daughters, Susan Colla and Patricia Swift, both of Ventura; a son, Harry Jr. of Santa Paula; three sisters, Helen Sponsler and Genevieve Wilt, both of Everett, Pa., and Betty Lashley of Philadelphia; a brother, Frank Foor, of Everett; 11 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Visitation will be from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday at the Ted Mayr Funeral Home in Ventura. Services will be private.

Memorial contributions can be made to the American Diabetes Assn., Ventura County chapter, in Los Angeles.