Obituary of Kenneth Berten Anderson

Kenneth Berten Anderson September 15, 1925- September 15, 2019 After giving his best to life and those around him for 94 years, Ken Anderson of Corvallis, Oregon passed away on September 15, 2019, on his birthday. He passed peacefully in his sleep surrounded by family members. Ken was the finest of family men, putting the love and consideration of his family above all other concerns. He was a living textbook on how to be a successful husband and father, short on words but long on example. He grew up in and around the small farming community of Lamberton in southwest Minnesota in a day and age when extended family were always together, and more often than not family and neighbors labored side by side on the routine tasks of farming and surviving harsh winters. If his help was needed, he was there. In 1943 on his eighteenth birthday Ken arose early in the morning, left a letter on the kitchen table for his parents, and used money he’d saved to ride a bus to the Twin Cities where he enlisted in the Army Air Corps in the midst of WWII. After the end of the war Ken returned to the Twin Cities, met and married his first wife Alice and earned an electrical engineering degree from the University of Minnesota. After college he continued to serve our country working for private industry on various defense contracts while living in southern California and later in Denver. His early career consisted primarily of second seat flight testing of radar guidance systems in early generation fighter jets at Lockheed. He later recalled to his family many tales of the wild rides and antics that often occurred on the post-test trips back to base at the hands of the super talented and competitive test pilots. However, the birth of his first child and the loss of a few coworkers to this dangerous but exciting occupation led to a pivotal decision: in order to safeguard the welfare of his family he took a ground position. The later and majority of his career took place at Hughes Aircraft working on defense projects which were highly classified at the time and never discussed at home, or anywhere else for that matter, until later years after de-classification. His family is very proud of his contributions to our nation’s defense, but as exciting and significant as they were, he always came home on time for dinner. When asked years after his retirement whether he missed the flight testing or the super-secret defense work he said, “Not for one minute”, and went on to explain that it all paled in comparison to being with his family. After the passing of his first wife Ken married Donna who he had met at work. He welcomed Donna’s two preteens and cared for them as if they were his biological kids. A few years later Ken and Donna retired and moved to Oregon where they bought five acres of raw land and with their own hands built a house Ken had designed himself. They fenced the property, built a barn and raised much of their own food supply including beef, lamb, chickens, vegetables, fruit, a vineyard and homemade wines. “Ken’s Farm” became a real family legacy that will be a gathering place for his family well beyond his lifetime. In retirement Ken enjoyed the arrival and development of his seven grandchildren. He and Donna also traveled extensively, especially enjoying winter destinations like Hawaii, the Southwest, Florida, Cancun, Jamaica, and Mexico. They took frequent trips to Vermont and Denver to visit family. He loved and collected classical music and that of the big band era. He frequented many local concerts including the Corvallis Community Band and the Heart of the Valley Children’s Choir. Ken always maintained high spirits and a great attitude. As a product of the depression-era he lived out how to make lemonade out of lemons rather than complaining. He was a man of high character and standards, and he continues to inspire those who knew him. Ken believed in living comfortably but not in extravagance. He was beyond generous with his resources sharing them freely with family and those he saw in need. He was incredibly intelligent, intuitively thinking life out 3 or 4 steps in advance. His sense of humor was just as quick, and he often used guerrilla humor – he’d quietly observe conversation and then unexpectedly interject a side-splitting one liner that brought the house down. Surviving to carry Ken’s loving torch to others in the world are his wife of 41 years Donna Anderson (Porter), his sister Shirley Taylor (husband George), his daughter Susan Kelley (husband Chuck), son Larry Anderson (wife Terry), daughter Lisa McCuistion (husband Michael), son Daryl Wells (wife Sean), and grandchildren Katie (Kelley) Albright (husband Benjamin), Kenneth Joseph Anderson, Shawn McCuistion, Christopher Anderson, Patrick McCuistion (wife Becca), Phoenix Wells, and Griffin Wells. Ken was preceded in death by his first wife of 31 years, Alice Anderson (Stephens). A memorial service will be held in October 20 at 2:30 PM at Suburban Christian Church in Corvallis. In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to: Suburban Christian Church Benevolence Fund Benton County Food Share Corvallis Community Band Heartland Humane Society Lumina Hospice