Ted E Anderson

April 19, 1936 - March 28, 2022

Ted E Anderson, of Corvallis, died on Monday March 28, passing peacefully, surrounded by family at OHSU hospital. He was 85. He was born on April 19, 1936 in Modesto, California and spent his youth there. An only child, he was doted on and cooked for by both his mother and his live-in grandmother. His post-depression era parents modeled saving for the future, teaching him to store valuable reusable items, and to write or monogram his name into the waistband of his briefs, even into his final days. King figure, facilitator of fun for his neighborhood friends, his mom said the boys would show up at his door every day of the Summer and ask through the screen, “what are we doing today Teddy?” He graduated as Student Body President of the first graduating class of Downey High School in 1954, then played baseball for two years at Modesto Junior College. He was a part of the Modesto group of cruising culture car kids on McHenry Boulevard portrayed in the film American Graffiti. He went on to the University of Oregon and earned a B.A. in Business in 1958, and then a Masters in Marketing from NYU in 1959. Drafted in July of 1959, he thrived in the U.S. Army, qualifying for Officer Candidate School at Fort Ord, then assigned to Fort Benning as a Lieutenant. He left the Army in 1960, and spent time as a reserve officer. He met and married Mary Regina Deschamps in Portland in 1962, then began courses in accounting at U of O in 1963. He was hired as an intern by Kohnen and Larson in Eugene, and by 1967 he was a CPA at the firm’s Corvallis office, tasked with growing the business. He quickly grew the Corvallis office to begin to exceed the billings of the home office in Eugene. He specialized in timber mill, logging, and farm clients and went on to form his own firms with partners in Corvallis the rest of his career. He knew the importance of referrals, saying that early in his career, a prominent local law firm offered him some work. “I knew it was my one shot,” he said. “I did such good work they continued to refer clients to me the rest of my career.” He said you could not make mistakes in a small business community like Corvallis either, that you “didn’t get those extra strikes.” Through the sixties and early seventies in Corvallis, Ted and Gina had four children; Brett, Bruce, Marcie, and Bart. A fun dad, he had no filters for the children’s ears around him. Instead, he played George Carlin’s albums on the turntable, freely used profanity, and delighted in all things funny. Neighborhood kids, asked recently about him have said “we always wanted to be at your house, because it was funner than our houses. Our parents weren’t like that,” one said. “He once woke us all up at a 3rd grade birthday slumber party at four A.M. by making a fart sound, asking if somebody stepped on a duck, then feeding us sugary cereal. What dad does that,” the guy said. Ted was constantly tossing his kids wiffle ball batting practice, his daughter Marcie learning to hit the fast balls harder than many of the boys. He threw passing routes with a Nerf during the football season to kids lined up on his dead end. One of the kids who went on to play college football said “no quarterback ever threw me more perfect passes.” He took his young kids on yearly trips to fish Oregon lakes for Bass, Trout, or Perch. On one outing, with kids bickering and fighting with each other in the boat, he yelled out over the entire lake, “We are here to have fun dammit! We are GOING to have fun!” Comprehensive relentless loss was a constant in Ted’s life. He lost his oldest son Brett to Leukemia in 1976, then his business partners in a plane crash a year later, then eventually his marriage. Moving down the linear line of his life, wanting to be constantly accompanied, he married JoAnne (Day) Anderson in 1990. “I’m like a puppy,” he would often say. “I need to be around others.” Joanne and her family brought him much happiness and joy, and he valued being useful and funny to them too. A proud member of the Corvallis chapter of Rotary International, Ted gave back to his community- whether flipping burgers at the Rotary Summer event, or coaching youth baseball. Admired by many in the Corvallis business community, more than one of his colleagues used words like ‘detailed’, ‘thorough’, or ‘careful’. They all used the word ‘funny’. Humor was very important to Ted. Whether it was a witty comeback to a clerk or customer service rep- he was constantly trying for a laugh. If he didn’t get the laugh or they didn’t get his joke, he would deem them a bad audience or just plain dull. His school-aged children could recite George Carlin’s “7 Words You Can Never Say on Television” over and over, like a profanity laced mantra. Ted was not mild mannered. He was exuberant, outgoing- an extravert. He is remembered by his kids for his funny sayings, even threats or warnings, where the consequences of not following his orders sounded brutal, but so outlandish that the consequences were funny. He didn’t like things to get too heavy. His losses created an unwillingness to explore or comment on his own feelings or emotional world when pressed. Rather, he preferred to move forward, plan for the future, and keep working. When he was at work, he was happy- engaged. In his retirement years he met with the same group of buddies every week to play golf or have coffee. Very close friends, these men would agree he was funny. He was always hoping his material was good enough to generate laughs. In the circles Ted Anderson ran in, there were no courtesy laughs. The material needed to be good. Last November he was hospitalized after surgeries needed for injuries sustained in a fall, and then for the past four months tried hard to heal in assisted living. His 85-year-old body and other health complications weren’t making it easy, and more fall-related complications required a final surgery at OHSU on March 22nd, resulting in still more complications. He passed at OHSU six days later, constantly vigiled by his kids and wife around the clock 24-7. He wasn’t left alone in assisted living the prior 4 months either. His kids knew these were his firm wishes, that this puppy be constantly surrounded by other puppies. He is survived by his wife, JoAnne; his children Bruce, Marcie, and Bart; and his granddaughters Emma, Madeline, and Adi. He leaves behind countless friends, and always strived to do his best, to be the best. Being “half-assed”, according to Ted, was something to avoid. He would tell his kids that because their name was Anderson, they needed A’s on their report cards! A funeral and reception immediately thereafter will be held Friday, April 22nd, at St. Mary’s Parish at Noon. There will be a microphone at the reception where guests can share stories. These remembrances of Ted will continue until every story is told, every tear is shed, and every last laugh is had. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Corvallis chapter of Rotary International.