Obituary of E. Charles Anderson

E. Charles Anderson (1929-2022) The Rev. Dr. E. Charles Anderson, age 93, formerly of Edina, has died. He was born May 14, 1929, the fourth of eight children to Edwin and Esther Anderson at home on the family farm in Audubon County, Iowa, and was given the name Edwin Charles Anderson. His family called him Charles. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Christian faith. His life was rich with birth family, uncles, aunts, and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents-in-law Norman and Josephine Voxland. While in graduate school, he married Joan Voxland. She survives him, as does his daughter Julie Gaitonde, son Mark Anderson, granddaughter Shweta Gaitonde and her father, Sunil Gaitonde. Charles graduated from Audubon High School where he served as the band’s Drum Major in his senior year, a pivotal experience in his life. He earned his B.A. from Dana College after which he was proud to serve in the United States Air Force for four years, attaining the rank of Staff Sergeant. He then enrolled at Chicago Lutheran Theological Seminary, a predecessor institution of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, where he received his M.Div. degree. Ordination followed during the 1959 Rocky Mountain Synod convention held at Messiah Lutheran Church, Denver, Colorado. He later earned his D.Min. from the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC). A rostered pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), he was mission developer and first-called pastor for congregations at Holy Trinity (Peace) in Las Cruces and St. Peter, Carlsbad, both in New Mexico, and at Messiah, Monroe, Louisiana, after which he served congregations as senior pastor at St. Ansgar’s, Waterloo, and Grand View, Des Moines, both in Iowa. In his retirement he served four years as visitation pastor at First (later Capitol Hill), also in Des Moines. While in Las Cruces, Charles was chair of the Migrant Ministry Committee of the New Mexico Council of Churches. In Monroe, he was a representative of its Ministerial Alliance to the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO). In Waterloo, he was chair of the Vietnamese Resettlement Committee for Lutheran Social Services of Iowa, as well as a board member of that organization. He was involved in campus ministry at New Mexico State University and at University of Louisiana, Monroe. Also surviving Charles are sisters Ella, Mary Ann, and Kathryn; sisters-in-law LaVaille, Estela, and Darlene; brother-in-law Ken; and many nieces and nephews. In addition to his own parents, he was preceded in death by brothers Milton, Virgil, and Dallas; sister Carolyn; sisters-in-law Marge, Joan, and Shirley; brothers-in-law Earl and Allan. Charles, known for his hearty laugh and magnificent smile, would say that his greatest accomplishment was marrying Joan. He loved his family. Together, Charles and Joan enjoyed camping when the children were young; later came the delight of a granddaughter. Over the years, Charles and Joan experienced all fifty states and significant trips abroad. Charles was at home with the paint brush, hammer and saw – or the shovel if participating in groundbreakings or planting trees and bushes in his own yard. Charles felt God’s presence throughout his living and in his dying. With Joan —to whom he was married for 66 1//2 years – at his bedside, this beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, pastor, teacher, and friend, breathed his last on the evening of December 23, 2022. Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis became the church home for Charles and Joan after their move to Edina. Pastor Monica Hammersten of that congregation will officiate at the private Inurnment of Charles’ Cremated Remains to be held Monday, May 15, 2023 – the day after Charles’ 94th birthday anniversary – at Sunset Cemetery, 2250 St. Anthony Blvd. N.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota, after which a celebration of Charles’ life will follow. Those who desire may give gifts in Charles’ name to LSTC, ELCA World Hunger, or donor’s choice. “The longer we live / The more of your presence / We find, laid down, / Weave upon weave, / Within our lives.” -- John O’Donohue Cremation Society of Minnesota, Edina. 612.825.2435