Paul H. Anderson

After a long lifetime serving the high callings of the law, his church, his community and higher education, Paul Henry Anderson, loyal friend and loving family man, died on December 27, 2016, at the age of 98. Mr. Anderson was born on June 10, 1918 in Choon Chun, Korea, the son of Methodist medical missionaries Earl Wills Anderson and Vara Walker Anderson. Besides furloughs in 1922 and 1929, he spent the first sixteen years of his life in Korea, home-schooled by his mother, attending the Seoul Foreign School, and excelling in tennis and violin. Like his father, he attended Emory University, where he was a member of the varsity tennis team, the University orchestra, the Glee Club and Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He received a bachelor’s degree from the College in 1938 and one of only two J.D. degrees awarded by its Law School in 1940, having served as president of Phi Delta Phi legal fraternity. He was a member of Omicron Delta Kappa. After law school, Mr. Anderson was one of five staff attorneys with the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, and spent over a year trying cases for its clients in Atlanta and outlying jurisdictions. During World War II, he served in the Army Counterintelligence Corps, and in October, 1943, married the former Marian Franklin, of Swainsboro, Georgia. After the War, he returned to Atlanta to resume the practice of law. In 1948, he formed a law firm with his friend Thomas Hal Clarke, which for many years represented what became Georgia Federal Bank. For over seventy years, he practiced primarily in the real estate, probate and trial areas, also serving as an Assistant Fulton County Attorney handling real estate condemnation cases. In 1951, Margaret Mitchell’s brother, Stephens Mitchell, joined the firm as a senior partner. After Mr. Mitchell was injured in an accident in the 1960's, he relied increasingly on Mr. Anderson in matters relating to the Gone With the Wind copyright, and in 1976, Mr. Mitchell appointed him, Mr. Clarke and attorney Herbert Elsas as the Committeemen responsible for the copyright and all business matters relating to it. He served as a Committeeman until the death of the last Mitchell heir in 2011. A sense of duty instilled in him while growing up in Korea carried over into Mr. Anderson’s civic life. He was particularly devoted to his alma mater, Emory, serving as chairman of its Board of Visitors, president of its Alumni Association and a member of its Board of Trustees, on which he chaired its real estate committee and was a member of its executive committee. He was a long-time supporter of its music programs and its Law School, serving on its Law School Council for years and playing a major role in the creation of the Emory Law School Fund. He was the recipient of the Emory Alumni Association Award of Honor, the J. Pollard Turman Alumni Service Award and the Law School’s Distinguished Alumni Award. He also served for years on the Board of Trustees of Rheinhardt College, chaired its executive committee and received its John Wesley Laity Award. The Association of Private Colleges and Universities of Georgia awarded him its President’s Award for service to higher education. In 1987, Mr. Anderson established a Fellowship in honor of his parents which has thus far brought eleven faculty members from Seoul’s Yonsei University to study at the Emory Eye Center and take the advanced techniques they have learned back to use in Korea. Mr. Anderson was also actively involved in service to the legal profession, as a member of several bar associations, the Lawyers Club of Atlanta, the American Law Institute and the American Judicature Society. He was president of Atlanta’s Old War Horse Lawyers Club and a Life Fellow of the Lawyers Foundation of Georgia. For nearly 80 years, Mr. Anderson was a member of Glenn Memorial Methodist Church, serving as chair of its Administrative Board and for many years chair of its Music Committee. His love of music inspired him to become a dedicated supporter and, for decades, a board member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Concerned about the need to improve opportunities for disadvantaged children, he also served for years on the boards of the Metropolitan Atlanta Boys Clubs, Inc., the Child Services and Family Counseling Center and the Child Welfare League of America. Mr. Anderson was married to Marian for over 74 years. A loving father, he enjoyed taking the family on trips in the U.S. and abroad and gathering the family each year at the beach in the summer and at a family farm for Thanksgiving. He discovered the joy of snow skiing in his forties, and nearly every year until he was into his eighties he took all of his available children and grandchildren old enough to ski on trips out west. He and Marian established a tradition of hosting Saturday morning waffle breakfasts for their grandchildren which continued for over thirty-three years. In addition to Marian, Mr. Anderson is survived by three children, Emily A. Tillman (Jim), Paul H. Anderson, Jr. (Debbie), and John F. Anderson, all of Atlanta; four grandchildren, Lauren T. Brown (Derrick), Anne T. Garbarino (David) and Walker W. Anderson (Laura), all of Atlanta, and J. Lawson Anderson (Kelsey) of New York; and six great grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, January 7, 2017 at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church, with reception following. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Glenn Memorial or to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta.