Obituary of James M. Anderson

Jim was born in Mount Vernon, Washington on March 16, 1927. He grew up near the Skagit River where, on a nice day, he and friends enjoyed floating with the current down the river. He attended Mt. Vernon High School, loved playing football and baseball, and was president of his junior class. He grew up in a family of bird hunters, and he spent many years enjoying this sport. He also took up fishing on the Skagit River and brought home many salmon. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1944 at the age of 17, having started school at the age of five. He began training as a navy pilot in the V-5 program at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. While there he became ill with spinal meningitis. When he recovered, he was too far behind to continue with his group at Gonzaga, and was given the option of staying and joining the next group, or transferring to “boot camp.” His brother, Sherman Anderson, Jr. had been seriously wounded in Italy, and Jim decided to transfer to the regular enlisted V-6 navy and become an enlisted man, so he chose “boot camp.” He was later assigned to a destroyer, and shipped out to the war in the Pacific. After discharge from the Navy he registered at Washington State College, graduating in late May of 1950. He then went to work for the Washington State Department of Public Assistance in Mount Vernon. He was 23 at the time. He and Mary Senger were married on March 2, 1951 at Mt. Vernon, and they had two sons, David and Robin, while living in Mt. Vernon. Jim accepted a scholarship to attend the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Washington in 1955. This was a two-year course leading to a master’s degree in Social Work. However, after completing his first year he was offered the job of Administrator of the Grant County office of the Dept. of Public Assistance in Ephrata, Washington. After some thought, he decided to accept the job, and the family moved to Ephrata in late June of 1956. He felt privileged while in Ephrata to be living in the top upland bird and duck hunting part of Washington. He took good advantage of this and brought home many pheasants and ducks. He also liked fishing for rainbow trout in eastern Washington seep lakes. He was a Rotarian while living in Ephrata, and had a term as president of the group. He was a blood donor during those years, and received Red Cross pins showing the gallons of blood he’d donated. He spent 15 years in Ephrata, and while there he and Mary became parents of a third son, James Michael. In 1966 he returned to the U to complete his graduate degree in Social Work. After completing graduate school he was promoted to district administrator for the Department of Public Assistance for the Central District of Washington. His office was in Ephrata, and the Central District included the several counties just east of the Cascades. In 1972 he was promoted to regional administrator for the Pierce and Kitsap region of the Department of Social & Health Services, and his office was in Tacoma. He retired from state employment in 1979, and then spent seven years in real estate in Tacoma, retiring for good at 62. He was a member of the Governor’s Committee on Disability Issues & Employment for a number of years while in Tacoma. One of his favorite pastimes after retirement was saltwater fishing for salmon around Tacoma. The fishing was quite good then, and over the years he caught many salmon, and his family enjoyed the resulting salmon barbeques. He had a great interest in World War II events, and continued to read and learn about the subject until his death. Jim was an avid hunter and fisherman all his life, but gave up both activities in 2003 or so, due to health issues. He said then he’d love to be able to shoot mallards and catch salmon again, but felt fortunate that he’d lived in places where he was able to do those things for so long. He was an outgoing man, always looked forward to meeting others, and went to every regularly-scheduled lunch he could with his DSHS-retiree friends, the last one on April 20. They kindly dubbed it the “Jim Anderson lunch.” He was proud of his three grandchildren, Whitney (Chris) Jorgensen, Kelsey Anderson, and Skyler Anderson, and his great granddaughter, Hailey Anderson. One son, Robin Anderson, predeceased him. A cancerous mass was found in his duodenum in January, 2011. He decided to go ahead with the surgery, because, as he said, he’d “beaten other health problems,” and he felt he had a chance to beat this too. However, further testing showed the cancer had spread, and his chances of making it through the 4-hour surgery were poor. He also learned that chemotherapy would delay things for only a short time. He hadn’t expected to hear this, as his nature was to expect a positive outcome. However, when his family gathered after this news, he told them not to worry or be sad because he wasn’t. He said he’d had a long, satisfying life, and he was happy to have been here for so long. He entered home hospice in February, telling a friend, “I’ve had a good life, I can’t complain.” He was a good and kind man, and we loved him. He died at 6:00 a.m. on May 8, 2011 at Hospice House in University Place, Washington. Arrangements by Edwards Memorial Center (253)566-1008