The following is taken from pages 11-12 of the 60th Anniversary Issue of Pan Pipes, published in May 1964 by Sigma Alpha Iota.
Following her work in Voice at the University of Michigan, Mary Storrs went East for advanced study and then on to Berlin, not only to study but to teach.
It was in Berlin that Mary Storrs met the eminent musician from the United States, Arthur Olaf Andersen, with whom she studied theory and to whom she became engaged. Mr. Andersen returned to America after three years and the two were married.
Again it was Berlin for both of the Andersens to continue their classes. They made their home in a large apartment which housed many musicians and well-known artists from around the globe. Mrs. Andersen wrote: "These were wonderful, inspiring days for my husband and me in the then music center of the world."
A year later, the Andersens returned to Chicago, Mrs. Andersen's home city, where Mr. Andersen became Head of the Theory Department at the American Conservatory of Music. Here, Mary Storrs Andersen became affiliated with Gamma Chapter, the members making her a patroness. After several years, Mr. Andersen assumed the position of Head of the Theory Department of Chicago Musical College. In 1934, he was appointed Professor of Theory and Composition at the University of Arizona in Tucson.
The Andersens were parents of three children. A growing family and the activities connected with being the wife of a busy Dean at prominent music centers, made for very full days in the life of Mary Storrs Andersen. A daughter, Mrs. Horace Clark, became a patroness member of Alpha Beta Chapter at the University of Arizona. Mrs. Andersen passed away at her home in Tucson, November 25, 1946.
In a letter from Mary Storrs Andersen dated April 1946, in closing she wrote this about her beloved fraternity: "It has paid me big dividends in pleasure, pride and satisfaction to note the gradual and steady growth of Sigma Alpha Iota from our small Alpha group of seven members at Ann Arbor, to the many new chapters, with thousands of members, formed in all the important music schools all over the country. It is also a matter of deep satisfaction to hear of the many fine alumnae chapters. My heart goes out to all who participate in carrying on the ideals of Sigma Alpha Iota."
