FREDERICK M. ANDERSON ’45

Anderson, Frederick 2/14/1924 – 8/13/2015 Ann Arbor Frederick M. Anderson, professor emeritus of philosophy, was born in Springfield, Ma, February, 14, 1924. He was preceded in death by five brothers and one sister. He has one remaining brother, Richard, who lives in Farmington, Mass. He has two sons, Marc and Michael (Seiko) their four children, Chloe, Chase, Charlotte and Carter and one daughter, Kathryn (Derek) Peters who have two children, Emorie and Rorie. He has two stepchildren, David Brown and Rebecca (Thomas) Renkert and their three children, Sarah, Allison and Alexander and his wife, Barbara. After being fired from a prep school because he had an epileptic seizure in the lunch room, his sister Elizabeth, suggested he apply to Harvard for his PhD. He did and was accepted. Fred taught philosophy at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts and then at Eastern Michigan University. After he retired, he taught literature at Elderwise, which he greatly enjoyed because as he taught them, he was learning. He was a man who never demeaned people nor did he suffer fools easily. He did things most of us wouldn’t think of doing; for example, calling Julia Child for a recipe for scallops which she kindly gave him. He loved baseball; saw Babe Ruth play, Mickey Mantle, and Miguel Cabrerra, to name a few, but as time went on he really couldn’t see or hear much of the game. We will all miss Fred for his foibles, his understated way of teaching, his understanding of humanity and the impact he had on all of us.

Published in Ann Arbor News on Aug. 16, 2015