John V.C. Anderson

John Vincent Clair Anderson died in McVille, ND on Wednesday, November 23, 2022, after being surrounded by loving family members throughout the day.

Born and raised on the family farm south of Hamar, ND, John had a gentle loving spirit, and a far ranging and inquisitive mind.  As a self-taught mechanic, electrician, welder, and plumber, John loved to troubleshoot and problem solve.  He had a special gift for identifying problems with cars, trucks, tractors, combines, furnaces, lawn mowers, anything mechanical or electrical was fair game.  He assembled his first transmitter radio from spare parts as a young boy, built a hot rod from a scrapped Model T as an adolescent, and built motorized bicycles with washing machine motors.  Had John not taken over the farm after completing the 8th grade due to his dad’s physical health, we have no doubt he could have gone on to be a brilliant engineer at Boeing or NASA, but never once expressed a moment of regret, rather, he was grateful and happy to live his life on the farm and in the house where he was born.

Dad was born in 1932, in the midst of the Great Depression.  He attended the one room schoolhouse which was a half mile walk to the north from the Anderson farm house.  In 1958, a young woman, Patricia Kjelden, was hired to be the teacher at that school, and boarded at the Anderson home that year.  John was a strikingly handsome young farmer and Patty was vivacious and cute, a match made in heaven.  They married in 1959, and made their life together, focused on family, farm and church, for the next 63 years.

Their life included dairy farming for the first dozen years or so of their marriage as well as raising wheat, oats and flax.  Dad had a special love and connection with the land and farm, and with the animals, whether cattle or pigs, cats or dogs.  He took special care and great pride in using sustainable practices in his farming, well ahead of his time, to ensure the land would endure and be productive for generations to follow.

John, or “Johnny” as he was called by many in the community, became known for his ability to fix almost anything.  Nearly every day the phone would ring with someone calling for Johnny’s help.  One neighbor called him JOHNNY-911.  He would almost never turn anybody away and charged far less than what they would pay elsewhere.

John also gave of his time willingly as a deacon for many years at Gethsemane Lutheran Church, and in addition served as clerk for Freeborn Township in Eddy County for 35 years.

Dad had a quick engaging smile, and loved to laugh and tell stories about life on the farm.  He especially enjoyed telling tales from the early days about family or of the colorful characters who made up the Scandinavian community where he grew up and lived.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Julius and Bertha; his sisters, Junie and Mildred; and grandchild, Sam.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Patty; four children, Peter (Charlene), Susan (Dave), Lynda (Robert), and Vincent (Jayme); 13 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren.  Grandchildren include Ben Anderson (Eric), Jacob Duckett (Robyn), Amber Duckett, Megan Duckett, Ian Coenen (Rosa), Tanner Coenen, Mikayla Coenen, Cassidy Coenen (Bradley), Hunter Anderson (CeCe), Dakota Anderson, Chase Anderson (Sophia), Tye Anderson (Alyssya), and Triston Anderson (Hailey).  Great-grandchildren include Sienna Coenen, Kierra Davidson, Tatiana Sesma, Anthony Sesma, Camden Duckett, Eli Anderson, Caden Anderson, and Lillie Anderson.

We have no doubt that Dad is up in heaven asking inquisitive questions, troubleshooting, figuring out how to make things run better up there.  We are grateful for the love and commitment and devotion he demonstrated and gave to us so freely.  Thank you, we love and miss you, Dad!

The Funeral Service will be held at Sigdal Lutheran Church, rural Tolna, ND, on Thursday, December 1, 2022 at10:00 a.m.  Interment will be in the spring at Gethsemane Lutheran Cemetery.  Visitation will be held at the church on Thursday, from 9:00 a.m. until the time of service.  The family encourages those in attendance to not wear black clothing.

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