Obituary of Earl Donald Anderson

Earl "Don" Anderson Don was born May 5, 1920 on his grandfather’s homestead near Ralph, South Dakota, the second child of Axel and Maude Anderson. He had two brothers, the older Carl and the younger Norman. The family was hit hard by the Great Depression, and in 1929 Axel moved his family west to Lewiston, Idaho in search of work. There he got word of opportunities up north on the Colville Indian Reservation, and in 1930 they settled down in Inchelium, Washington where Axel worked for the local sawmill. Don attended school in Inchelium, playing football and baseball, raised horses, hunted for ice in the mountains to make ice cream and occasionally cooked up home brewed beer to sell around the neighborhood. He enjoyed fixing up broken down Model-T Fords to drive around the reservation, with or without tires. When he was old enough, Don worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps, and took pride in helping to build many roads in the area, including the Bridge Creek Road. He fondly recalled assisting the “powder monkey”, a explosives expert whose job it was to blow out the stumps with dynamite. Don always thought that fellow was a bit crazy, and got off that job as soon as he could. After a season of picking peas down in Oregon, he moved to Tacoma in 1940 and started a job working for the Standard Oil Company as a service station attendant and mechanic. In January, 1942, Don was drafted into the Army Air Corp, and served out the War in the Pacific Theater as a medical technician, mechanic, ambulance driver, and pretty much any other assignment the officers gave him. He was stationed mostly in the Hawaiian Islands but memorably served on a convoy to the South Pacific, where he helped defend and maintain air strips on Ellis Island Atoll and the island of Funafuti. After he was discharged, Don returned home to Tacoma where he resumed his job with Standard Oil, followed by a job clerking at B&F Grocery. He also took advantage of the GI Bill and in 1961 earned a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Puget Sound. In the early 1970’s, Don went into business for himself, working as a general residential building contractor, doing plumbing repair, carpentry, roofing, electrical work, drywall, painting, you name it. He loved this work, and enjoyed the people he worked for. He continued as long as he health held out, and even into his late 80’s he would take calls and “go out on a job” to advise a friend. Don fell in love with and married Maria Minkiewicz on December 18, 1965. They had their first child, Martha, on October 24, 1966. A second daughter, Sonia, followed on February 24, 1968. Their third and last child was a son, Joe, on April 9, 1969. Don remain married to Maria until his passing, an outstanding 44 years. Don was a humble, kind man. He loved to work on old cars, a holdover hobby from working on his Model T’s in Inchelium. He could be seen driving around Tacoma in his old 1970 tan Datsun pickup going out on jobs. He also enjoyed an annual road trip back to Inchelium to relive old memories and see old friends. Don believed in conservation, recycled whenever he could and hated to see a tree cut down. He loved dogs and children, believed in working hard, and was proactive. He would joke, “Don’t just stand there, do something, even if it’s wrong!” (Other great one-liners: “Do you take food stamps?”, “Good enough for government work”, and “If it’s brown its cooking, if it’s burnt it’s done.” He loved dancing, singing old campfire songs, watching Lawrence Welk, and eating maple nut ice cream. Don was preceded in death by his mother and father, his brothers Carl and Norman, and too many very good friends. He is survived by his wife Maria and their three children. He will always be kindly and lovingly remembered.