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A young Bob Anderson |
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Skipping the first dozen odd jobs he held to help support his mother from the age of 12 onward, Robert Anderson Jr., born June 5 1942, spent much of his adult life in the US military. In 1960, he joined the US Air Force. He was 18.
For 16 years he was a contracting supervisor, and a supervisor of inventory management.
Anderson was stationed in Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, and the Philippines. And in Lowry, Colo., and at the base in Niagara Falls. He also taught procurement contracts at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia.
He was also a recruiter for four years. He helped many a young man choose the path of their life, one much like his.
Anderson was awarded the US Air Force Meritorious Service medal with one oak leaf cluster, the Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters, The Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 6 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, the Air Force Overseas Long Tour Ribbon, the Air Force Longevity Service Award ribbon with four Oak Leaf Clusters, and the NCO Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon with one Oak Leaf Cluster.
He won the US Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksmanship ribbon. He played on the US Air Force South All Star basketball team against the Marines; his height on the all star roster is listed at 6 feet 4. He won the US Air Force G. A. Sanford Award for athletics.
According to the citation that accompanies his Air Force Meritorious Service medal, earned when he was assigned to the 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron, Niagara Falls International Airport, "Sergeant Anderson's outstanding professional skill, knowledge and leadership added immensely in identifying problem areas in the field of Inventory Management and developing positive corrective actions. The distinctive accomplishments of Sergeant Anderson reflect credit upon himself and the United States Air Force."
The area where he had identified problems and made corrections: The Nuclear Ordinance Commodity Management Supply account in Niagara Falls, of which he was in charge.
According to the citation that accompanies Anderson's Commendation Medal, Staff Sergeant Anderson, the Procurement Supervisor, 3415th Resource Management Group, Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado, earned it for his work from Nov. 1, 1976 to April 29, 1977, when he "aided immeasurably in the successful accomplishment of the Air Training Command Logistics Civil Engineering Support test, resulting in the development of supply procedures to be used throughout the Air Force. The energetic application of his job knowledge, technical skill and an incomparable devotion to duty, contributed significantly to the success of the mission of the Lowry Technical Training Center."
After Anderson retired from the military, he worked in business. He developed the Bradford House restaurants for W.T Grant Stores. By the time he was done, he had 130 waiters and waitresses working under him.
He was also a devoted family man. Married to Marie, who died last year, he has a son, Robert Anderson, III, and had a stepdaughter.
In 1991, Anderson's stepdaughter Bernadette was beaten into a coma by her husband Patrick Guiteau. Anderson and his wife built an addition to their modest home in LaSalle and kept their daughter at home and nursed her for 21 years until she died last year. Anderson took in her three small children, Erin, Alexandria and Patrick, and raised them as his own.
In 2003, he ran and won election to the council. He was the top vote getter in the city that year. He ran for re-election two more times, and was the top vote getter both times.
The Niagara Falls Reporter reviewed records that showed that Anderson donated $74,000 to various charities that serve the poor, which was more than 60 percent of his entire council salary.
He died Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2015, one day prior to Thanksgiving.