Lester H. Anderson

Lester H. Anderson, 94, passed away peacefully on November 28, 2011, at his daughter's home in Bloomington, Indiana. Born December 24, 1917 in Michigan City, Indiana, he was the son of Carl and Bertha Anderson. He was the devoted husband of Betty Luchtman Anderson for 65 years, and loving father of Gretchen A. Martin (Steve) of Bloomington, IN and the late Kurt A. Anderson. Les was a kind, considerate, intelligent, and gentle man who provided a wonderful life for his wife and children. He was president of his Elston Senior High School Class of 1936 in Michigan City, Indiana and a 1940 graduate of Purdue University. He was successful in the forestry industry before volunteering for naval duty in 1941. As a US Navy First Lieutenant in WWII, he first served in the Naval Intelligence Service at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and was part of the team that broke the Japanese code prior to the Midway campaign. Later, he served as a gunnery officer aboard destroyer escorts in the North Atlantic and Pacific as screens for various task force operations. His tours of duty included being torpedoed, sunk and rescued at sea in the Pacific. His next ship was one of those in Tokyo Bay to witness the formal Japanese surrender in 1945. After the war he spent several years in the family grocery business, and then he had a very successful 25-year business career with Austinal Corporation in LaPorte, Indiana. In 1980, Les and Betty moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where they lived an enjoyable retirement, surrounded by friends, until 2004, when they moved to Bloomington and Meadowood Retirement Community. In his retirement he continued a lifelong, passionate interest in Dixieland Jazz, naval history, Purdue sports, and service to others. Among other awards he was a Rotary Paul Harris Fellow. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters (Helen and Leola), and three brothers (Howard, Russell, and Orville). He will be missed greatly by all who knew and cared for him, as much as he cared for them. A memorial service will be Saturday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church in Bloomington, with a reception afterwards in the church's Great Hall. Final internment will be in Greenwood Cemetery in Michigan City, Indiana at a later date. The family wishes to thank the staff of the IU Bloomington Hospital Hospice for their kind assistance to Les and his family. Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.allenfuneralhome.org.

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Lester H. Anderson

December 24, 1917 - November 28, 2011