Charles Thomas Anderson

Charles Thomas “Tom” Anderson, 94, passed away Friday, July 16, 2021. Tom was born on July 23, 1926, in Kokomo, to Charles Edward and Frances (Garritson) Anderson. In high school, Tom was president of the dramatic club, president of the National Honor Society, and business manager of the Sargasso (yearbook). He received the American Legion Award as the outstanding senior boy in 1944. He was an honor graduate in the class of 1944.

Tom was in the U.S. Navy from September 23, 1944 to July 10, 1946, serving as an Electronics Technicians Mate on an aircraft carrier, the USS Thetis Bay (CVE-90).

In the fall of 1946, Tom entered Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN. He graduated in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. While at Purdue, he was admitted to the engineering honor societies Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu.

Tom worked as an electrical engineer for General Electric Company from 1951 until he retired in 1986. During that time, he lived in Syracuse NY, Utica NY, Palo Alto, CA and Liverpool, NY.

As a hobby, he was on a team of about a dozen volunteers who removed a pipe organ from RKO Keith’s Theater in downtown Syracuse before the theater was torn down. The team restored and rebuilt the organ and installed it in an auditorium at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse. Tom was president and program chairman of an organization that used the instrument to give programs open to the public, which consisted of theater organ music and old silent movies with organ accompaniment.

Tom was never married. He had one brother, Jerry Edward Anderson, who died in 2011. Two cousins, a niece, two nephews, and their families survive him. The cousins are Margot Maddox Hight Fox and her husband, William, of Kokomo, IN; and Rebecca Reed Coles and her husband, Jerry, of Sedona, AZ. The niece is Kathryn Anderson Clary and her husband, Mark, of Winona Lake, IN. The nephews are James Edward Anderson and his wife Mary, of Merrifield, MN; and Thomas Rowland Anderson and his wife Joan, of Leesburg, IN.

In accordance with Tom’s request, there will not be any funeral. His body will be cremated, and the ashes will be buried in a grave beside his mother and father in Memorial Park Cemetery in Kokomo, IN.

Memorial contributions may be directed in Tom’s memory to Literacy Coalition of Howard County and/or Howard County Humane Society.