Anderson, Edward Christian 1911-2004

ANDERSON, MOFFIT, KRAMPE, NELSEN, CRABBS

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 4/8/2013 at 07:18:04

The Grinnell (IA) Herald-Register; July 15, 2004

EDWARD ANDERSON

Edward Christian (Eddie) Anderson, 92, of Marshalltown, formerly of Grinnell, died Sunday, July 11, 2004, at Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown.

A funeral service was held Wednesday, July 14, at the Iowa Veterans Home Chapel with burial following in the Iowa Veterans Home Cemetery. Memorials may be made to the Iowa Veterans Home Dak 3.

He was born Oct. 18, 1911, in Denmark. He became a merchant seaman in Denmark at the age of 14 and immigrated to the United States at the age of 16. He lived with an aunt and uncle in the Janesville-Cedar Falls area and was taught English by the "Beatty boys" out of a Sears-Roebuck catalog. He worked for the Carnation Milk Co., Viking Pump and Peterson Body Shop in Waterloo. He moved to Grinnell in 1936 and opened the Grinnell Axle and Body Shop. He was a boxer, rode Harley Davidsons doing hill climbs and crash shows, and raced cars.

He joined the United States Army in 1941-42. He then plated wheel alignments for the U.S. military until 1945. He built houses, wagon boxes, a skating rink, Tiny Acres, raised chimpanzees and had a business in which he built garbage trucks. In 1949, he took seven of eight state championships racing stock cars. He was a member of the Kellogg Lions Club and also loved dancing.

He is survived by two daughters, Mary Moffit of Grinnell and Vera Krampe of Baxter; eight grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and 10 great great grandchildren; one sister, Ellen Nelsen of Denmark and a special friend, Marie Crabbs of Winterset. He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, three brothers and one great grandson.