Donald Anderson

Donald V. Anderson, 90, went to be with his Lord and Savior on Thursday, November 28, 2019 at his home in Albin, WY with his beloved wife and children at his side.  He will be missed by his loving family and lifelong friends.

Don was born on October 14, 1929, the second son of Reuben and Ruth Anderson in the home that his Grandpa Victor built.  Don was a colicky boy for almost a year, not giving his parents rest.  He found comfort in his thumb.

Don’s education began at High Point, a small country school just over a mile from his home.  Most of the time he and his brother Melvin walked or rode their horse, Lindy.  The next year Don attended second grade in Albin and continued there through graduation in 1947.  In school he loved playing basketball and the alto sax in the band.  His favorite pastime was playing with the cousins.

At age twelve Reuben put Don on a tractor.  From then on he was considered big enough to do any and all farm chores, and became his Dad's "right hand man".  Over the years Don learned to wear many hats including--mechanic, carpenter, plumber, electrician, mathematician, financier, livestock producer, fertilizer, and herbicide expert.

In the fall of 1947 Don joined his older brother at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas.  It was there he met his first wife, Marietta (Susan) Pinkley.  After two years of college he returned to the family farm and built a home a half mile from the house where he was born.

Don and Susan lived in that home for thirty-five years and had five children, Donna, Dean, Dennis, Dwayne, and David.  Susan passed away in 1987.

The Lord has blessed Don many times over the years since he accepted the Lord as a lad at his Grandma Lundberg’s home.  Don served in the Albin Baptist Church as trustee, deacon, vice-chairman, Bible teacher, choir member, youth sponsor, and Boy's Brigade Captain, and served on the Board of Trustees for the Rocky Mountain Baptist Conference.  He also served on the board of Blue Cross Blue Shield and was an active member of Farm Bureau.

Don’s hobbies included wood-working, hunting and fishing.  Many a fall would find him headed for the Jackson Hole area where elk, deer, moose, and bear were his trophies.   Don traveled to many of our fifty states, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Sweden, Russia, and Venezuela.

In 1988, Don married Vernita Faye Firestone Berry, a school teacher in LaGrange.  The union added Vernita’s two sons, Vern and Vance, a daughter-in-law; Debra and two grandchildren.  They continued on the family farm working with his brother Rodney and sons; Dean and Dwayne.  Don and Vernita were involved with the Gideons International and Hard Hats for Christ.

Don once expressed his gratitude by saying: “I am grateful, indeed, for my heritage, for the opportunities I have had and the freedom to live and work and rear my children
in America.  Thank you, Grandpa Victor.”

Don was preceded in death by his first wife Susan, older brother, Melvin, and parents, Reuben and Ruth.  He is survived by his second wife Vernita; children, Donna and Marvin Peters of Albin, Wyoming, Dean and Brenda Anderson of Albin, Wyoming, Dennis and Barbara Anderson of Fort Collins, Colorado, Dwayne and Chaurisse Anderson of Albin, Wyoming, David and Sarah Anderson of Lingle, Wyoming, Vern and Debra McAdams of Pinedale, Wyoming, Vance McAdams of Denver, Colorado, nineteen grandchildren, and twenty-eight great grandchildren.

A celebration of life service will be held on Friday, December 6, 2019 at 11:00 a.m. at the Albin Baptist Church with burial following at the Albin Cemetery.  A light luncheon and coffee will follow at the Albin Community Center.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Albin Baptist Church or Gideons International.