Marvin Sydney Anderson (1938-2018)

ANDERSON, NIELSEN, SCHWAB

Posted By: Mark Christian
Date: 5/17/2021 at 16:53:14

Obituary From Adams Soderstrum Funeral Home, Story County, Iowa.

Marvin S. Anderson, age 79, of Ames, passed away on October 9, 2018 at Northridge Village in Ames.
Memorial Services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Monday, October 15, 2018 at Bethesda Lutheran Church in Ames. Visitation will be held at the Adams Funeral Home in Ames from 4-6:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 14, 2018. Burial will be in the Ames Municipal Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Bethesda Lutheran Church, 1517 Northwestern Ave., Ames, Iowa 50010.

Marvin Sydney Anderson was born November 10, 1938 to Marvin Sylvester and Lyda Ruby Anderson (Nielsen) in Santa Monica, California.

Marvin grew up with two younger brothers, Gerald and Jack. When Marvin was ten years old, his family moved to the San Fernando Valley. He graduated from Van Nuys High School in 1956 and went to college at Pierce Junior College in Woodland Hills, California but struggled there. When asked why, Marvin said, “I liked the ocean too much.” He enrolled at Waldorf in Forest City, Iowa (as far away from the ocean as he could get) for a two year degree in Math, Chemistry and Physics. There, Marvin met and began dating Carol Schwab. He went on to Concordia in Moorhead, Minnesota to finish his degree in Math and Physics and he married Carol in 1961.

Marvin enlisted in the Air Force, attended boot camp and officer training in San Antonio, Texas, and completed the missile course in Wichita Falls. He was assigned to Plattsburgh Air Force Base in New York. He was sent to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California for advanced missile training during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

David was born the next year, in 1963, at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. They remained in Plattsburgh until May 1965. Marvin left the Air Force and moved with his family to Ames, Iowa where he took a job as Junior Scientist at Ames Laboratory at Iowa State University. While Marvin was doing research and taking care of a growing family, he went back to school and earned a Masters Degree in Physics in 1972. Marvin painted pictures during this time as a diversion from his work and studies.

Gregory was born in 1965. Their family continued to grow. Derek was born in 1969 and Brent was born in 1971. Marvin completed his thesis, which was published in 1972.

Marvin was a regular visitor to all of his children’s schools where he would perform Physics tricks, immersing rubber balls and other items in liquid nitrogen and throwing them to the floor where they shattered. He was also very handy. He built an addition onto the family house in the late 1970s, completing it in 1981 with help from his father and a few close friends. It was not uncommon to find Marvin and his family out on a lake in his Puffer sailboat during the summer.

Marvin retired from Ames Lab in 1997. Marvin and Carol were divorced in 1998, but remained friends and often joined with their boys and their families to celebrate occasions and holidays. Marvin enjoyed traveling to destinations throughout the United States and the world including Prague, Vienna, Budapest and China.

Marvin was preceded in death by his father, Marvin, his mother, Lyda and his son, Brent.

He is survived by his sons David (Regina) of Ames, Iowa, Greg (Linda) of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Derek (Cheryl) of Minneapolis, Minnesota, his grandchildren, Mackenzie and Jack of Ames, Iowa, Sara and Julian of Rancho Palos Verdes, California, his brothers, Jack (Judi) of Escondido, California, Gerald (Barbara) of Yuma, Arizona and many nieces, nephews and friends.

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