Obituary of Lorne Earl Anderson

Lorne Earl Anderson, 97, of Cambridge, MN went Home to be with his Lord and Savior Friday morning, March 13, 2015 at GracePointe Crossing Gables West. He was born March 27, 1917 to David and Anna Anderson in Little Woody, Saskatchewan, Canada. Lorne was a beloved husband, father, brother, uncle, grandpa, great-grandpa, and friend. He was preceded in death by Virginia, his dear wife of 71 years. He is survived by step-sister Reta (Dave) Richert of Edmonton, AB; five children: Elaine (Richard) Wood of Bethany, OK, Carol (James) Sperry of Cambridge, MN, Joan (Ralph) Sharp of Grande Prairie, AB, Norris Anderson of Lake Lillian, MN, Brian (Melissa) Anderson of San Antonio, TX; 12 grandchildren: Julia (Bradley) Baurain of Caronport, SK, Priscilla Wood of Bethany, OK, Peter (Jennifer) Sperry of Hugo, MN, Anne (Joseph) Rauch of Minneapolis, MN, Jodi (Edward) Gardiner of Temecula, CA, Amy (Mark) Schiffner of Billings, MT, Heidi Sharp of Calgary, AB, Jonathan Sharp of Grande Prairie, AB, Nate (Brittany) Anderson of Moorhead, MN, Stacy Anderson of St. Paul, MN,Willow Anderson of Adkins, TX, Leif Anderson of Adkins, TX; 16 great-grandchildren: Kristen, Caroline, Isaiah and Anna Baurain; Blair, Livia and Erik Sperry; Emma, Meghan, Katie and Andrew Gardiner; Alec, Annika, Marissa and Judith Schiffner; Harper Anderson, many nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends. Lorne was no ordinary, run-of-the-mill person as family and friends can attest to. He was always “on the go”, leaving practically nothing unattempted! As a Canadian, he enlisted in the Armed Forces and served overseas as a medic in WWII and later in life became a US citizen. He loved his coffee ‘n cookie (or donut) several times a day, he loved people and he loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the decades of his life, he pastored at Sand Lake Baptist Church, Deer River, MN, Springvale Baptist Church, north of Cambridge; served with various camping ministries in both Canada and the USA; in retirement years, volunteered along with his wife, Virginia, in local charities and church activities; travelled south many winters to participate in the reconstruction of New Tribes Mission retirement facilities in Sanford, FL, as well as using his welding skills on short-term mission work projects in Colombia and Papua New Guinea. The family of Lorne Anderson wishes to extend sincere thanks to all the wonderful caring staff of Guardian Angels Home Care, Haven House, GracePointe Crossing, Dr. Barry Larson, and those in the church and community who visited and prayed for Lorne. They are also extremely grateful for all the kind help and support of Carlson-Lillemoen Funeral Home of Cambridge. Memorials are preferred to : Trout Lake Camp Memorial Fund Attn: Sarah Anderson Converge North Central 2355 Hwy 36 West Suite 400 Roseville, MN 55113 New Tribes Mission (NTM) 1000 East 1st Street Sanford, Florida 32771 Designate to either of the following projects: - Papua New Guinea Kuman Bible Translation - Interface Training Program HONORING A LIFETIME OF SERVICE Lorne Earl Anderson March 27, 1917 - March 13, 2015 Lorne Earl Anderson, 97, of Cambridge, MN went Home to be with his Lord and Savior Friday morning, March 13, 2015 at GracePointe Crossing Gables West. From the beginning, God knew that Lorne Earl Anderson would need at least 97 years to do everything that he could possibly attempt. He was always “on the go” specially if there was any risk involved! March 27, 1917 in Little Woody of southern Saskatchewan, Canada, Lorne Earl Anderson entered the world weighing 13 lbs., giving him a head start at living his long life. “Vat a voper!” was the first compliment he received and he went on to live a whopper-of-a-life. The second surviving son of David and Anna Anderson, Lorne was little brother to Roland and in time, big brother to Virginia, Vernon and Leonard. Stepsister Reta arrived on the scene after David remarried Eleanor a few years following the death of Anna in 1944. David and Anna’s home on Fife Lake, SK was full of activity in the early 1900s.They were good providers and encouraged their five children to work hard and play hard. In the summer at the end of the day, there was swimming, boating,fishing, ball games, and always horseshoes! During the winter months, the lake provided skating, curling, and ice-boating. Good food was always on the table and often after a meal was cleared away, someone would start the singing around the old pump organ. It has been apparent among generations of the Anderson clan that God chose to bless them with a good dose of musical genes! One of the few ways that young boys could earn a little money for something special was to shoot and skin jackrabbits and trap skunks. Lorne used this income to buy his first bicycle, be it used. His interest and skill to trap animals of various kinds continued to develop over the years, as did his love of bicycling (and photography!) In the early 1930s, during the years of drought and the Depression, Lorne’s father, David, found work at the Sjodin farm in Kipling, SK. The Sjodin family had recently lost their father and husband and needed help. Upon David’s return home from helping the Sjodins, he commented, “whoever’s lucky enough to marry Virginia Sjodin would be getting a ‘real peach.’” At 20 years of age in the summer of 1937, Lorne worked on a big farm, threshing and pitching bundles. Saturday nights after work, he rode his coaster bike through rolling hilly country 50 miles north of Kipling to the community of Stockholm to preach Sunday mornings at the small Baptist church. That fall while he attended high school, he carried on his weekend preaching, was compensated with room and board by a family in the church and continued to help “do chores” on the farm. That winter he and his sister attended a six-week Bible School session held at Virginia Sjodin’s church, Highland Baptist in Kipling. This was the first time Lorne and Virginia met - was it love at first sight? In the fall and winter of 1939-40 they both attended the Alberta Baptist Bible Academy in Wetaskiwin, 700 miles northwest of Kipling. During the summer months he donned a coal miner’s hat and ventured underground with older brother Roland. At ABBA Lorne and Virginia both enjoyed singing in mixed quartets and duets. He loved to tell the story of their Bible School quartet on their way to a radio station in Wetaskiwin. Roads were covered with ice and snow and their vehicle slid into the ditch, but not long after a vehicle with members of a hockey team came by, and jumping out to help the stranded quartet, the players picked the car up, set it on the road, and away the quartet went arriving at their broadcast appointment just in time. In 1941 Lorne worked in Calgary, AB for a construction company, building army training facilities there and in Swift Current. He stayed in a rooming house and in the evenings he worked in a restaurant, surviving on the pies that were left over at the end of the day. But there was still time for a little romance and in October, Lorne decided to include a marriage proposal to Virginia in a duck-hunting outing. (His father had taught him that he could save bullets if he lined up two ducks and Lorne applied the lesson in a different manner!) Virginia told him she would think about it, (she needed to pray about it first!) and said, “Yes” the next morning. Lorne’s dad,David, exclaimed, “Here I thought you’d be where the ducks wouldn’t bother you!” The war was an ever-present reality, and in the spring of 1942, Lorne enlisted with the hygiene unit in the Canadian Forces. July 5, 1942 they were married at Highland Baptist Church, Kipling and lived in the large metropolitan city of Regina where Lorne was doing advanced training in anticipation of his deployment. July 1943, Lorne was sent overseas to England, Holland and Black Forest, Germany. Letters and pictures were treasures to hold on to during those terrible years. When asked by one of his grandchildren many years later, "What was the hardest thing you ever had to do?" Grandpa wrote: "Boarding a troop train in Regina, SK in 1943 on July 5th, and saying farewell to Virginia, my loving and beautiful wife on our 1st wedding anniversary!” While in Holland, Lorne slipped on the ice, breaking his wrist. This kept him from riding his motorcycle and inspecting other units, but how to keep himself occupied while it healed was the question. One day, curious about what the German troops might have left in their trash, he found a calendar with a picture of a duck - it reminded him of hunting in Saskatchewan, especially the outing when he proposed to Virginia. He thought he could try his hand at painting and there were several art shops in the town of Nijmegen where he was able to find paints and brushes. Needing something to paint on, he rummaged and found a German Army flour sack in the trash, which became his canvas. The duck painting made it back to Canada, rolled up in his belongings. Throughout their many moves, it went with them, in a trunk or dresser drawer. That is where Carol found it in 2010 and heard its story, exclaiming. "This doesn't belong in here - it needs to be framed." Since then it has graced their living room and the story happily repeated. Lorne’s two-and-a-half-year deployment in the Armed Forces ended in December 1945, and he arrived home two days after Christmas. The “newlyweds” resumed married life at Killdeer, SK where Doris Elaine was born in 1946. Lorne assisted in his brother Roland’s shop doing welding and repairs. In the summer of 1948 Lorne and Virginia moved northwest to Lloydminster where oil booms were creating jobs. Lorne welded at a refinery and later at a welding shop. During next eight and a half years, Carol Annette, Joan Adele and Norris Elwood joined the family. A year ago when his children shared with him the details of his wife Virginia’s death the previous night, one of Lorne’s first thoughts reflected back to the time of his return from the war and seeing his young wife. He recalled feeling overwhelmed with the emotion of being reunited and expressed his wonderment that God spared him during the long separation of the war years, allowing him to return home when so many other men didn’t. No doubt, God had many reasons in mind - at least five! The Andersons were active in choir, teaching Sunday School and summer camp work of the Lloydminster Baptist Church. Missions was a strong focus in the life of their church and they began to explore Indian mission work in northern Canada; however, in 1957, the Lord’s leading pointed to Sand Lake Baptist Church near Deer River, Minnesota with a ministry to the nearby native Indian village of Inger. “On the go” again, with all belongings packed in a made-by-Lorne trailer, the family took a long winter’s drive south. In 1958 Brian David was born, the fifth and final “arrow in the quiver”. Growing up in lean times of the depression had prepared Lorne and Virginia for feeding a family of seven and learning to “make do” on a pastor’s small salary. Lorne supplemented their income by combining his love of the outdoors, his high energy and never-ending ideas of ways to put food on the table - be it hunting deer, moose, ducks, pheasant and other wild game, even caribou in Alaska once; spoiling the family with fresh walleye, scooping up buckets and barrels of smelt on the north shore of Lake Superior, spreading out nets to catch whitefish on Red Lake; cultivating several garden plots so the kids would have plenty weeding to keep them out of mischief; welding a large cauldron into which hundreds of gallons of maple sap were poured and boiled slowly into deep golden maple syrup for waffles and Swedish pancakes (but way before then the trees had to be tapped & the sap collected); discovering highbush, lowbush or any-kind-of bush cranberries, chokecherries, pin cherries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries - nothing was wasted and surely something could be made from them - more jam, more jelly, more syrup! He taught his oldest daughters to harvest wild rice from a canoe and after getting a good price for the bushel bags, the family enjoyed the end product without paying a fancy price and were spoiled again to have it on their plates regularly. Dad may have been the impetus for the distracted driving law. We can recall riding in the car as youngsters, hearing Dad exclaim with hand on wheel but eyes on bushes) “Oh, look at those berries!” We’re confident in saying that God employed many extra guardian angels on Dad’s (and our behalf) during his lifetime! As much as he loved to pick berries,he loved to take photos, but how did he get one of himself collecting maple sap when no one else was with him? He was doing “selfies” long before the word was invented! “On the go” once again in 1962, Lorne and Virginia sensed the Lord directing them to another small church further south near Cambridge where they ministered at Springvale Baptist Church until the summer of 1966. Bible Camp ministry remained on their hearts throughout their married life, so they were up for it again when opportunity knocked to help at Trout Lake and Mink Lake Wilderness Camps. Following that, they became involved in establishing the Minnesota Baptist Conference retreat center, King’s Ranch near Cambridge, serving as caretakers until 1973. That fall they were “on the go” again, the Lord’s hand pointing back to Canada, this time to northern Ontario. They rose to the challenge of meeting the need for housing and parenting young fellows from northern areas continuing their education at the public school in Sioux Lookout. Joining an organization of concerned individuals known as Northern Horizons and based at Andersons’ Camp on Abram Lake, they shared their home for two and a half years in that setting and then moved to Cedar Point Drive following the disbanding of Northern Horizons. By then they had become involved in parenting under Children’s Aid Society and Lorne joined the staff of the maintenance department of Sioux Lookout General Hospital in 1975. Formally retiring in 1982, they continued to live in Sioux Lookout in the summers and travelled to warmer climates during winter months for twelve years, visiting and helping relatives and friends. If they didn’t already have friends in an area, they soon made some. Several trips included time spent helping Lorne’s brother, Vernon and his wife Ruth, former missionaries in Brazil. Vernon had become bedridden with MS for a number of years before his Homegoing. In 1987 and “on the go” again, Lorne & Virginia sold their home in Sioux Lookout and returned to Cambridge. It didn’t take long to become involved at First Baptist Church again. Lorne joined a team to Jamaica helping with the 1989 hurricane recovery. They both continued volunteering at New Tribes Mission (NTM) Retirement Center in Oviedo, FL and when a new highway project forced its closure, Lorne’s welding skills and experience were put to good use during the construction of a new retirement center for veteran missionaries in Sanford, FL. He was also invited to participate in NTM’s short term work projects overseas in Colombia, S.A. and in 1993 played a crucial role in rebuilding mission facilities after a fire in Papua New Guinea. In 1996 Lorne and Virginia officially became U.S. citizens. Taking and making opportunities to serve the Lord and others has always been part of their DNA. When at home in Cambridge Lorne enjoyed helping set up and having breakfast with the Saturday morning men’s prayer group at First Baptist, participated in six Bike-a-thons until after age 70, trapped beaver to keep land from being flooded and offered to cut down trees becoming a nuisance in peoples’ yards. Over the years he turned many a tree into slabs of wood, giving most away for others to make into something practical and beautiful. While in his eighties and nineties, he could be found down by the Rum River in early spring setting up his maple syrup production once again, the last attempt in 2010 - and he just couldn’t help but find more berries to pick - nothing should be wasted. Lorne and Virginia thoroughly enjoyed going with other retirees to Trout Lake Camp for the early spring Sawing Bees, constructing the Timber Ridge complex. Lorne expertly operated his dandy portable Wood-Mizer Sawmill (making a board out of a tree) for the construction of cabins at the camp. Together they tirelessly volunteered here, there and everywhere, being active in First Baptist ministries, doing Meals on Wheels and helping at Grandview Christian Home (now GracePointe Crossing), culminating in the Isanti County Senior Citizens award in 2005. While residing at GracePointe Crossing, Lorne loved to attend the Friday Hymn Sings and Sunday Chapel services. One particular Sunday after chapel service when Carol and Jim were having coffee with him, he piped up with, “What’s next?” - his heart and mind were still “on the go!” During his last few years, Lorne finally experienced what it’s like to be sedentary! What he was able to recall and recite most clearly at this time in his life, he said, were the songs and Bible verses he learned as a 5-year old. Philippians 2:13 -“For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” We often heard him quote this favorite Bible verse of his with more and more certainty, putting emphasis on “God”. Right up until the end, Lorne understood what was being said, but had difficulty responding verbally - his eyes and his smile said it all. He weakened considerably in his last weeks but he asked during a visit with Carol and Jim,“Did the chores get done?” Yes, Dad, all your chores are done. You have entered into the joyful presence of the Lord and we are confident you are praising your Awesome God who worked in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure!