After a full and productive life of adventure and accomplishments, Richard Brooks Anderson died at home on Oct. 18, 2010, at the age of 87. This strong, independent, industrious retired forester was a voracious reader well-versed in many subjects and a great storyteller with a razor-sharp mind. He lived a rich life, refusing to let age or prostate cancer slow him down.
Richard was born in Detroit, Mich., on Oct.18, 1923 to Earle O. Anderson and Helen W. Hill. When his family moved to Long Beach, Calif., 14-year-old Dick ran a surfboard, umbrella and bellyboard concession, earning 5 cents to 25 cents a day. He graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School in 1942, studied math, physics and engineering at Long Beach City College and in 1943 entered the Air Force at the age of 19.
Dick was a 15th Air Force B-24 tailgunner in Italy, where he was credited with more than 50 missions targeting refineries and marshaling yards in southern Europe. He parachuted to safety after his plane was shot down in northern Yugoslavia. Tito's partisans rescued him and his fellow airmen and escorted them through the Yugoslavian hills. Ten days later, the Air Force picked them up in a meadow and took them to the island of Capri for R and R. He returned to the skies for future missions over Austria, France, Italy, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Romania and Poland.
After his honorable discharge, he attended the University of Idaho, earning a B.S. degree in forest management in 1949. He then logged with his brother, Bob, for two years in McCall, Idaho, and was a smokejumper based out of Missoula, Mont.
In 1953 he earned his master's degree in forestry and bought his well-loved 1946 Taylorcraft airplane, which is still in great flying condition.
From 1955 to 1965, Richard was snow ranger at Alta, Utah, where he met his wife, Mary, after handing her the glove she had dropped at the top of the ski lift. They began their life together skiing the powder before the slopes opened each day.
Dick spent many summers building timber-access roads in Bridger Teton National Forest in Pinedale, Wyo., and working as a timber sales administrator in roadless areas. From 1965 to 1980, Dick was a forest ranger in Hailey, the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Heise and Shelley, Idaho. He retired at the age of 65 and started a five-year project of love—building from scratch a 50,000-board-feet, classic, character-charged home in Hailey. And he cultivated a fruit-tree orchard that thrived under his care. For decades his special indoor orange tree bore fruit every year in cold Idaho!
Dick loved attacking problems that took patience, ingenuity, perseverance, tenacity and a creative mind. Because of his calm, generous and kind spirit, young people gravitated to his side to work and learn valuable life skills.
He loved the water, too—sailing the California coast as a teen member of the Sea Scouts, fishing the coasts of Mexico, soaking in the thermal pools of the West and swimming in his in-home lap pool. During his final days, his close friends rigged a seat to pulley him from his chair to his tub for a daily soak.
Dick lived a busy, vigorous life, always seeking new challenges and ever curious, yet he remained pragmatic, peaceful, happy and unassuming. His death leaves a void not easily filled, but his unparalleled zest for life inspires us.
He leaves behind two devoted daughters: Polly of Portland, Ore., and Sue (Barry) of McCall, Idaho. We, his family and friends, cherish the moments we had with him, and hope that you will plant a tree in honor of this passionate forester.
Arrangements are under the care of Wood River Chapel of Hailey, and friends are invited to leave condolences and share memories at www.woodriverchapel.com.
