John Arvid Anderson

John A. "Johnnie" Anderson, age 83, Ft. Pierre, formerly of the Garden City community, died on Sunday, September 12, 2004 in St. Mary's Hospital at Pierre after a brief illness. Honorary casketbearers will be Wayne Blashill, Dennis Theel, Charlie and Merlin Hughes, Allen Stern and Doug Loomis. Active casketbearers are Rollin, Rodney and Ryan Lawrence, DuWayne Menning, Bernie and Steve Anderson. Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 17, 2004 at 10AM in the United Methodist Church at Garden City with Pastor Donna Nickels and the Reverend Warren Rhodes officiating. Burial will follow in the Garden City Cemetery. Lisa Stern will be the pianist with a duet be sung by Barb DesNoyers and Brenda LaBrie. Visitation will be held on Thursday from 6-8 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and 1 hour preceding services at the Church on Friday morning. He was born south of Clark on March 28, 1921, the son of Arvid and Mary Anderson. He spent is childhood on a farm west and north of Clark where he attended Pleasant Hill Country School and later finished schooling in Garden City. On August 8, 1942 he was united in marriage to Veda M. Nelson at Webster. They farmed three miles south of Garden City until moving into Garden City. He hauled gravel, worked for a crop sprayer and raised potatoes until moving to Ft. Pierre in September of 1967. The couple returned to Garden City and operated the Garden City Gas Station. While living in Ft. Pierre, John and his sons, Gordon and Dale "Doc", operated J & G Salvage and Fur. The couple continued living in Ft. Pierre, returning to the Garden City community and later to the Wookey Assisted Living Center at Clark. After his wife's death in November of 2002, he returned to live with his daughter Judy in Ft. Pierre. In March of this year he became a resident of the Beverly Health Care Center in Pierre. John's greatest joy was trapping fur and telling his trapping stories to his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He also enjoyed countless hours of playing whist, running race horses and visiting with his many friends. He is survived by his children, Gordon and "Doc" Anderson both Henry, Lynda Lawrence and husband Ronald of Watertown and Judy Anderson of Ft. Pierre; 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren. Preceding him in death were his parents Arvid and Mary Anderson, loving Wife Veda, 2 brothers, Carl and LeRoy and a sister, Alice Anderson O'Connor.