Richard Gaylord ANDERSON

ANDERSON, GRIFFITH, FLETCHER, TOOHEY, PHINNEY, SMITH

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 10/1/2006 at 18:44:42

Clear Lake IA Mirror Reporter
24 Dec 2003

Richard "Rich" Gaylord Anderson, 71, of 200 North Shore Drive, Clear Lake, died Friday, Dec. 19, 2003 at the Muse Norris Inpatient Unit, Mason City, Iowa. Funeral services were held Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003, at Zion Lutheran Church, Clear Lake, with the Rev. Dean Hess officiating. Interment was at the Clear Lake Cemetery, with military honors by the Clear Lake VFW. Memorials may be left to Hospice of North Iowa, KCMR, Zion Lutheran Church, ISU Companion Animal Fund, Clear Lake Public Library or charity of your choice.

Richard was born the son of Olaf A. and Alice Izetta (Fletcher) Anderson, on Feb. 7, 1932 at rural Eagle Grove, Iowa. Richard graduated from Eagle Grove High School in 1949. He enlisted in the United States Army in November 1952, and was discharged in September of 1954. After his military service he was employed for twenty years in men's retail clothing business at Leuthold Company in Eagle Grove, Iowa and Platteville, Wisconsin. He later worked for St. Clair Starks in Mason City, Iowa. Richard married Karen Griffith, Sept. 5, 1959, at the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Eagle Grove. In 1987 Richard began driving van for Northern Trails AEA, retiring in 1997. In 1944 Richard was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at the Holmes Lutheran Church. Richard was an avid golfer, enjoyed playing baseball and softball for Eagle Grove City League, watching Fox News channel, tennis, WWE wrestling. He was a member of Heritage Foundation, Zion Lutheran Church, and a charter member of Rush Limbaugh's "The Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy".

Richard is survived by his wife, Karen Anderson, of Clear Lake; daughter, Laura Toohey and her husband, Vern, of Britt, Iowa; son, Mitch Anderson of East Wallingford, Vt.; two grandchildren, Ashley Phinney, Clear Lake, and Meagan Anderson, Forest City, Iowa; a sister, Ruby Jayne Smith and her husband, Dale M. of Eagle Grove; mother-in-law, Mildred Griffith, Clarion Care Center, Clarion, Iowa; several nieces and nephews, and his special Yorkie companion, Oliver Richard Anderson. His parents and his father-in-law, Cecil Griffith, preceded Richard in death. Ward-Van Slyke Colonial Chapel, Clear Lake, was in charge of arrangements.