Wayne Bartley Anderson

Wayne Bartley Anderson, Age 84 of Rockville, Maryland passed away peacefully on March 22, 2026. He was preceded in death by his father Berger Anderson, mother Jeanette Anderson, brother Gerald Anderson, and son Scott Anderson. He is survived by his wife Sharon Anderson, brother Berger Anderson, Jr., daughter Kristin Steel, son-in-law Ted Steel, and twin granddaughters Samantha Steel and Sydney Steel.

Wayne was born on Easter Sunday, April 13th, 1941, in Pekin, North Dakota. He first lived in a converted horse-drawn cook car that had been made into a very small home behind his father’s Standard Oil Service service station. When World War II soon broke out, his family moved to Vancouver, Washington, where his father contributed to the war effort as a welder in the Kaiser shipyards building Liberty Ships. Shortly after the war ended, the family settled in the idyllic lumber-industry town of Longview, Washington, where his father again opened a service station.

While growing up in Washington, Wayne played baseball, football, tennis, and had many outdoor adventures, including fishing, cycling, and backpacking. He was involved in scouting and achieved the prestigious rank of Eagle Scout. As a young man, he hiked to the summit of Mount St. Helens in Oregon, and was exploring the wilds of Yellowstone during the harrowing 1959 earthquake that claimed 28 souls.

After graduating high school, Wayne returned to North Dakota where he attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks to study chemistry and biology. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity when he met his future wife Sharon at a mixer with her sorority. Wayne and Sharon were married August 24th, 1963.

Despite early opportunities to work in industry, Wayne chose to continue his studies at the University of North Dakota Medical School. While he was working on his doctoral degree, Sharon and Wayne welcomed a daughter, Kristin, in 1966, and a son, Scott, in 1968. Wayne went on to complete his PhD in molecular biology and accepted a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Heart Institute of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Wayne later joined the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute. In 1989, Wayne was selected to lead the Cellular Transduction Unit at the Laboratory of Cellular Oncology. His research provided an understanding of how cells become malignant and led to the development of many cancer-treating drugs and helped identify environmental and nutritional factors that alter the regulatory mechanisms in cells.

During the course of his career at the NIH, Wayne published over 160 research papers, journal articles, and book chapters. He also served as an adjunct professor at Howard University and at George Washington University in Washington, DC. Wayne served as a visiting professor at the University of Pusan in Korea and the University of Rene Descartes in Paris, France. He traveled extensively, both nationally and internationally, to present at conferences and collaborate with laboratories. In 1983, Wayne received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Dakota, and in 1989, he was recognized as one of their top 10 graduates of the UND medical school in its first 100 years in existence.

After Wayne’s retirement from the NIH, he continued to travel, play tennis, and spend time with his children, grandchildren, and especially, his wife, Sharon. Their great appreciation for nature led Wayne and Sharon to safaris in Africa, and to many national parks, including Glacier, Yosemite, The Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone, and Banff in Canada. In 2019, Wayne was in attendance to celebrate the college graduations of his granddaughters, Syd and Sam, from the University of Miami. Wayne and Sharon began a new chapter with their move to Ingleside King Farm just prior to the onset of the Pandemic in 2020. He frequently mentioned how fortunate they were to be living in such a vibrant community surrounded by good friends. He celebrated his 60th wedding Anniversary with Sharon and family at Rehoboth Beach in August 2023.

A celebration of Wayne’s life will be held at Chapel at Ingleside King Farm, 701 King Farm Blvd., Rockville, MD 20850 on Sunday, April 12th, 2026 from 11 am to 12 noon with a reception to follow.