Alverta E. Anderson, a seamstress and a former grocery store owner, died of cardiac arrest Thursday at Maryland General Hospital. The longtime North Mount Street resident was 91.
Alverta Edith Brown, the daughter of a factory worker and housekeeper, was born and raised in Trenton, N.J., where she attended city public schools.
Mrs. Anderson moved to Baltimore in the late 1930s, where she worked as a seamstress in the city's former garment district on West Paca Street.
In 1969, she opened Alverta's Grocery Store on North Gilmor at Presstman streets, which she owned and operated until selling it about a decade later.
Mrs. Anderson enjoyed cooking and entertaining family and friends.
"She was known for her turkey and stuffing, fried fish, and cut potatoes," said her daughter, Sharon Anderson-Oliver, who lives in the Belair-Edison neighborhood in Northeast Baltimore.
Mrs. Anderson was a world traveler and considered her visit to the Holy Land to be a highlight of her life, family members said.
She also continued making her own clothes.
Mrs. Anderson had been a 50-year member of Union Baptist Church before joining Fulton Baptist Church in 2005.
"Whenever she went to church, people said, 'Mrs. Anderson, you sure look sharp today,' " her daughter said. "She made an impression wherever she went."
Services were held Saturday at her church.
Also surviving are eight grandchildren; 22 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; a niece and a nephew. Her son, Donald Brown, died in 2008. Her marriage to Richard Anderson, a merchant seaman, ended in divorce.
