Joseph Edwin Anderson

Philippians 4:13

Joseph Edwin Anderson (85) was born on Friday, January 24, 1930 to Andrew and Minerva Anderson in Hoquiam, Washington. He was delivered on his aunt Lena Boone’s dining room table. Joe played baritone horn in the high school band and got a job delivering mail with the Post Office. That’s how he originally met Marilyn. He delivered her mail. He started going to the Baptist youth group, heard the gospel and came to Christ. Joe and Marilyn fell in love. Joe was 3 years older than Marilyn so they waited for her to graduate from high school before the wedding bells chimed.

Joe joined the Navy and we shipped off to Portsmouth, Seattle, San Francisco, Hawaii, and then Marilyn stayed home with the boys while Joe sailed the seven seas with the Navy. His last duty station was the Seabee Base in Port Hueneme, CA where the family actually got to live for almost 10 years. Joe and Marilyn were very engaged in community activities that included Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Sea Scouts, and teaching Sunday school.

In 1968 Joe retired from the Navy and the family moved to Olympia, WA. He began working for the City of Olympia in the engineering department. Our family became members of Emmanuel Bible Fellowship.

Joe and Marilyn bought a 32 ft. cabin cruiser and joined the Olympia Yacht Club. Joe advanced through the leadership roles of the club and served his term as Commodore of the OYC. Boating in the Puget Sound, predicted log races and discovering hidden coves and quiet marinas became some of our favorite family getaways. Joe found great satisfaction in serving with the Olympia Power Squadron and teaching boaters about marine navigation and the basics of boating safety. He also loved reading maps and charts and watching the weather. “Red skies at night, sailor’s delight. Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning.”

Joe was a Christ-centered servant leader. For a number of years he and Marilyn drove up to the VA Hospital at American Lake to provide wheel chair transportation for patients who wanted to go to chapel. His love for the Bible led him to become a faithful member of Bible Study Fellowship.

Joe traveled with Marilyn to Porcelain art shows and seminars in their motor home. They loved to travel and their road trips took them all across the United States to see parts of the country they had not seen before and to visit their kids and grandkids in Texas. Joe took Marilyn overseas to Europe, Sweden, and many of the ports he visited while on the Mediterranean cruise with the Navy. Joe was an avid reader and he especially loved reading historical fiction and non-fiction about the NW. George Roswell (97) recruited Joe to compete in the Senior Olympic and he won medals in the shot putt, discus and javelin events in his 80s. Joe was a master in the kitchen and he became quite the baker of specialty breads like his famous cardamom Christmas bread. He was chief chef for Marilyn’s porcelain art classes and seminars. The husbands of Marilyn’s students often showed up so they could enjoy Joe’s cooking. Conversations and stories could go in a number of directions but somehow turned into questions about the Bible and the Gospel.

One of Joe’s favorite sports would take him to a local golf course. There was something very special about stepping up onto the tee box with his favorite driver and slamming his golf ball over 200 yards down the fairway. You could find Joe and his long time golfing partner, Byron DeHart, on either of their two favorite local golf courses at least two days each week, rain, snow or shine. And I am talking about walking the golf courses! No carts for Joe and Byron until mesothelioma became active and robbed Joe of his good health.

Joe’s faith in God was vibrant and inspiring. Chemotherapy and cancer treatment is a rough road. And if that were not enough, he developed congestive heart failure with a defective aortic valve. These past nineteen months have been a roller coaster ride of emotions, oncology office visits and hospital stays. Through it all Joe was determined to keep his eyes on Jesus.

On Sunday morning, February 15, 2015, we had a family meeting in Dad’s hospital room to talk about the road ahead. Dad, “We need to talk about plans. Your oncologist has a plan for you. He just gave you a chemotherapy treatment and he is planning on testing you in two weeks to see if your tumors are shrinking. We have a plan for you Dad. We want to get you strong enough to go home to your recently remodeled home. So what is your plan Dad?” He told us, “My plan is to go to heaven. I want to be with Jesus.” We told Dad that God knows when we get to go home to heaven. He knows the day, the hour, the minute and we’re not going to get there a moment early or late.

On Sunday afternoon, Mom called and let us know that we were losing Dad. We gathered the family into his hospital room. We knew he could hear us so we sang some of his favorite hymns and read God's Word to him. We could hear Dad humming the tune as we sang the songs. We told him, "We're proud of you Dad! You fought the good fight, you finished the race, you’ve kept the faith and you've won the prize. "

Dad always loved building sail boats and he taught his three boys how to sail. There is a huge sail that you open up when you are sailing down wind. It's called a spinnaker and it usually has lots of color to it. It was time to give Dad permission to go to be with Jesus and enjoy his reward. We told him to let out his spinnaker and race across the finish line. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.”

Joe is survived by his loving and devoted wife, Marilyn, of 63 years, one sister, three sons, eight grandkids, six great grandkids, and a wide circle of extended family and friends.

Some of Joe’s favorite Bible verses include: John 3:16, Philippians 1:21, 4:13, and Joshua 1:9.

Thank you, Lord, for Joe and his contagious commitment to live for Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for his generous and sacrificial servant heart & love for others. Thank you, Lord, for Joe's dedication to Marilyn and their 63 years of marriage. Thank you, Lord, for a dad who really cared and provided for every member of his family. Thank you, Lord, for the doctors and nurses of Vista Clinic and St. Peter’s Hospital. Thank you, Lord, for the pastoral care and prayer support of our family and friends at Littlerock Community Fellowship and beyond.

Most of all, thank you, Jesus, for being our risen Savior and Lord. Jesus, You are the resurrection and the Life. Because You live, we can face tomorrow. Because You live we know that Joe is with you in heaven and all who receive You by faith will see Joe again.

Joe’s memorial service will be Saturday, February 28, at 2pm at Littlerock Community Fellowship (11510 Littlerock Rd SW, Littlerock, WA 98556).