Jesse Richard “J.R.” Anderson of Bella Vista, Arkansas, died late Sunday night March 21, 2021. He was 81.
With a disarming happiness he attributed to his “country boy” roots, Anderson helped people when they were most vulnerable: Until he retired, he regularly worked on Allstate Corp. catastrophe teams writing insurance checks and arranging for emergency home repairs after devastating tornadoes and hurricanes across the southeastern U.S.
Anderson worked 28 years for the company. He began as an adjuster and was promoted to a regional analyst and property unit manager in Kansas City until he retired in 1995 as its resident claims adjuster in Joplin, Missouri.
Late in his career, he spent eight months working insurance claims in California.
He was most proud of his two daughters and four grandchildren. He was so innocently, outwardly friendly he would try to strike up a conversation with anyone – strangers or friends, young or old – in restaurants, retail stores, parking lots or elsewhere. He loved to talk to people.
Anderson was born into a family of farmers in February 1940 in the Missouri town that bore his ancestral name, founded in the late 1880s. His great-grandfather, Robert, operated the town’s first Post Office and blacksmith’s forge. J.R. Anderson was one of eight children born to parents Ted and Jessie.
The farm remained in the family until its sale last year. Seven decades later – despite a rich lifetime living in the suburbs – the memory of those early-age farm chores was so ingrained that in his occasional Alzheimer’s-induced fog he was convinced that he still needed to milk the cows.
Anderson played varsity baseball at Anderson High, now known as McDonald County High, attended Joplin Junior College and earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive science from Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
He married his wife, a schoolteacher, in 1963. He served in the Missouri National Guard for 14 years, retiring as a sergeant.
The couple had their oldest daughter, Ginger, in 1967, just before moving to Kansas City, where Anderson began working with Allstate. Another daughter, Jill, was born in 1970. The family returned in 1979 to his roots in southwest Missouri, moving to Joplin.
Outside work, Anderson was an avid deer hunter and angler, fishing with his brothers during extended trips in Canada and Alaska for walleye, pike, and salmon, and during a visit to Gatun Lake in Panama. He also hunted elk in Colorado with his brother Bud.
An ambitious golfer, Anderson played regularly on weekends and shot in the high 70s at the peak of his play. A hole in one eluded him during his lifetime, although his wife scored one while he was teaching her the sport – an inside joke between them for decades afterward.
Golf and fishing were so important to him, even years after his illness made them impossible. Some nights in his Alzheimer's confusion, he would mis-remember fishing with his grandsons earlier in the day or describe in breathtaking detail a round of golf he believed he had played – complete with weather updates and commentary on his putting or chipping prowess.
Anderson retired from Allstate the same year his first grandson was born – Zachary – who unexpectedly died hours afterward. The scarring pain from that milestone loss deeply wounded Anderson, and he spent the next two decades deeply involved in the lives of his four surviving grandchildren attending baseball, bowling, gymnastics and swim-and-dive tournaments across the United States and cheering them from the bleachers.
“No one will be able to understand how much this man meant to me and what all he has done for me in my life,” said his grandson, Joshua.
In 2002, Anderson and his wife moved south across the Arkansas state line to Bella Vista to buy a home on a golf course and enjoy their retirement. They traveled extensively across Europe, the Caribbean and South Pacific, often aboard cruise ships.
J.R. is survived by wife, Layne Anderson, daughters Ginger Bridis (Ted) of Gainesville, Florida, and Jill Anderson Patterson Stout (Mike) of Bella Vista; grandchildren: Trey Bridis of Gainesville; Joshua Patterson of Bella Vista; Alyx Bridis of Fairfax, Virginia; Jesseca Patterson of Bella Vista; Joseph Stout (Mary) of Mt. Vernon, Missouri; Michael Stout (Kara) of Nixa, Missouri; Brittani Stout of Tulsa, Oklahoma and 2 great grandchildren; also, brothers Buddy Anderson
(Marilyn) of Windsor, Colorado, and Paul Anderson (Donna) of Grove, Oklahoma; sister Connie Coonrod (Joe) of Rolla, Missouri; and nieces and nephews.
Anderson was preceded in death by brothers Ted Anderson of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jerry Anderson of Seneca, Missouri; and sisters Patsy Hackney of Norwalk, California, and Helen Stephens of Anderson.
Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, March 26, 2021 at Peace Valley Cemetery in Anderson, Missouri.
The family asks that contributions in Anderson’s memory be made to Circle of Life Hospice, 1201 NE Legacy Parkway, Bentonville, AR 72712 or First United Methodist Church of Bella Vista, 20 Boyce Drive, Bella Vista, AR 72715.
With a disarming happiness he attributed to his “country boy” roots, Anderson helped people when they were most vulnerable: Until he retired, he regularly worked on Allstate Corp. catastrophe teams writing insurance checks and arranging for emergency home repairs after devastating tornadoes and hurricanes across the southeastern U.S.
Anderson worked 28 years for the company. He began as an adjuster and was promoted to a regional analyst and property unit manager in Kansas City until he retired in 1995 as its resident claims adjuster in Joplin, Missouri.
Late in his career, he spent eight months working insurance claims in California.
He was most proud of his two daughters and four grandchildren. He was so innocently, outwardly friendly he would try to strike up a conversation with anyone – strangers or friends, young or old – in restaurants, retail stores, parking lots or elsewhere. He loved to talk to people.
Anderson was born into a family of farmers in February 1940 in the Missouri town that bore his ancestral name, founded in the late 1880s. His great-grandfather, Robert, operated the town’s first Post Office and blacksmith’s forge. J.R. Anderson was one of eight children born to parents Ted and Jessie.
The farm remained in the family until its sale last year. Seven decades later – despite a rich lifetime living in the suburbs – the memory of those early-age farm chores was so ingrained that in his occasional Alzheimer’s-induced fog he was convinced that he still needed to milk the cows.
Anderson played varsity baseball at Anderson High, now known as McDonald County High, attended Joplin Junior College and earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive science from Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
He married his wife, a schoolteacher, in 1963. He served in the Missouri National Guard for 14 years, retiring as a sergeant.
The couple had their oldest daughter, Ginger, in 1967, just before moving to Kansas City, where Anderson began working with Allstate. Another daughter, Jill, was born in 1970. The family returned in 1979 to his roots in southwest Missouri, moving to Joplin.
Outside work, Anderson was an avid deer hunter and angler, fishing with his brothers during extended trips in Canada and Alaska for walleye, pike, and salmon, and during a visit to Gatun Lake in Panama. He also hunted elk in Colorado with his brother Bud.
An ambitious golfer, Anderson played regularly on weekends and shot in the high 70s at the peak of his play. A hole in one eluded him during his lifetime, although his wife scored one while he was teaching her the sport – an inside joke between them for decades afterward.
Golf and fishing were so important to him, even years after his illness made them impossible. Some nights in his Alzheimer's confusion, he would mis-remember fishing with his grandsons earlier in the day or describe in breathtaking detail a round of golf he believed he had played – complete with weather updates and commentary on his putting or chipping prowess.
Anderson retired from Allstate the same year his first grandson was born – Zachary – who unexpectedly died hours afterward. The scarring pain from that milestone loss deeply wounded Anderson, and he spent the next two decades deeply involved in the lives of his four surviving grandchildren attending baseball, bowling, gymnastics and swim-and-dive tournaments across the United States and cheering them from the bleachers.
“No one will be able to understand how much this man meant to me and what all he has done for me in my life,” said his grandson, Joshua.
In 2002, Anderson and his wife moved south across the Arkansas state line to Bella Vista to buy a home on a golf course and enjoy their retirement. They traveled extensively across Europe, the Caribbean and South Pacific, often aboard cruise ships.
J.R. is survived by wife, Layne Anderson, daughters Ginger Bridis (Ted) of Gainesville, Florida, and Jill Anderson Patterson Stout (Mike) of Bella Vista; grandchildren: Trey Bridis of Gainesville; Joshua Patterson of Bella Vista; Alyx Bridis of Fairfax, Virginia; Jesseca Patterson of Bella Vista; Joseph Stout (Mary) of Mt. Vernon, Missouri; Michael Stout (Kara) of Nixa, Missouri; Brittani Stout of Tulsa, Oklahoma and 2 great grandchildren; also, brothers Buddy Anderson
(Marilyn) of Windsor, Colorado, and Paul Anderson (Donna) of Grove, Oklahoma; sister Connie Coonrod (Joe) of Rolla, Missouri; and nieces and nephews.
Anderson was preceded in death by brothers Ted Anderson of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jerry Anderson of Seneca, Missouri; and sisters Patsy Hackney of Norwalk, California, and Helen Stephens of Anderson.
Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, March 26, 2021 at Peace Valley Cemetery in Anderson, Missouri.
The family asks that contributions in Anderson’s memory be made to Circle of Life Hospice, 1201 NE Legacy Parkway, Bentonville, AR 72712 or First United Methodist Church of Bella Vista, 20 Boyce Drive, Bella Vista, AR 72715.
Jesse Richard “J.R.” Anderson of Bella Vista, Arkansas, died late Sunday night March 21, 2021. He was 81.
With a disarming happiness he attributed to his “country boy” roots, Anderson helped people when they were most vulnerable: Until he retired, he regularly worked on Allstate Corp. catastrophe teams writing insurance checks and arranging for emergency home repairs after devastating tornadoes and hurricanes across the southeastern U.S.
Anderson worked 28 years for the company. He began as an adjuster and was promoted to a regional analyst and property unit manager in Kansas City until he retired in 1995 as its resident claims adjuster in Joplin, Missouri.
Late in his career, he spent eight months working insurance claims in California.
He was most proud of his two daughters and four grandchildren. He was so innocently, outwardly friendly he would try to strike up a conversation with anyone – strangers or friends, young or old – in restaurants, retail stores, parking lots or elsewhere. He loved to talk to people.
Anderson was born into a family of farmers in February 1940 in the Missouri town that bore his ancestral name, founded in the late 1880s. His great-grandfather, Robert, operated the town’s first Post Office and blacksmith’s forge. J.R. Anderson was one of eight children born to parents Ted and Jessie.
The farm remained in the family until its sale last year. Seven decades later – despite a rich lifetime living in the suburbs – the memory of those early-age farm chores was so ingrained that in his occasional Alzheimer’s-induced fog he was convinced that he still needed to milk the cows.
Anderson played varsity baseball at Anderson High, now known as McDonald County High, attended Joplin Junior College and earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive science from Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
He married his wife, a schoolteacher, in 1963. He served in the Missouri National Guard for 14 years, retiring as a sergeant.
The couple had their oldest daughter, Ginger, in 1967, just before moving to Kansas City, where Anderson began working with Allstate. Another daughter, Jill, was born in 1970. The family returned in 1979 to his roots in southwest Missouri, moving to Joplin.
Outside work, Anderson was an avid deer hunter and angler, fishing with his brothers during extended trips in Canada and Alaska for walleye, pike, and salmon, and during a visit to Gatun Lake in Panama. He also hunted elk in Colorado with his brother Bud.
An ambitious golfer, Anderson played regularly on weekends and shot in the high 70s at the peak of his play. A hole in one eluded him during his lifetime, although his wife scored one while he was teaching her the sport – an inside joke between them for decades afterward.
Golf and fishing were so important to him, even years after his illness made them impossible. Some nights in his Alzheimer's confusion, he would mis-remember fishing with his grandsons earlier in the day or describe in breathtaking detail a round of golf he believed he had played – complete with weather updates and commentary on his putting or chipping prowess.
Anderson retired from Allstate the same year his first grandson was born – Zachary – who unexpectedly died hours afterward. The scarring pain from that milestone loss deeply wounded Anderson, and he spent the next two decades deeply involved in the lives of his four surviving grandchildren attending baseball, bowling, gymnastics and swim-and-dive tournaments across the United States and cheering them from the bleachers.
“No one will be able to understand how much this man meant to me and what all he has done for me in my life,” said his grandson, Joshua.
In 2002, Anderson and his wife moved south across the Arkansas state line to Bella Vista to buy a home on a golf course and enjoy their retirement. They traveled extensively across Europe, the Caribbean and South Pacific, often aboard cruise ships.
J.R. is survived by wife, Layne Anderson, daughters Ginger Bridis (Ted) of Gainesville, Florida, and Jill Anderson Patterson Stout (Mike) of Bella Vista; grandchildren: Trey Bridis of Gainesville; Joshua Patterson of Bella Vista; Alyx Bridis of Fairfax, Virginia; Jesseca Patterson of Bella Vista; Joseph Stout (Mary) of Mt. Vernon, Missouri; Michael Stout (Kara) of Nixa, Missouri; Brittani Stout of Tulsa, Oklahoma and 2 great grandchildren; also, brothers Buddy Anderson
(Marilyn) of Windsor, Colorado, and Paul Anderson (Donna) of Grove, Oklahoma; sister Connie Coonrod (Joe) of Rolla, Missouri; and nieces and nephews.
Anderson was preceded in death by brothers Ted Anderson of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jerry Anderson of Seneca, Missouri; and sisters Patsy Hackney of Norwalk, California, and Helen Stephens of Anderson.
Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, March 26, 2021 at Peace Valley Cemetery in Anderson, Missouri.
The family asks that contributions in Anderson’s memory be made to Circle of Life Hospice, 1201 NE Legacy Parkway, Bentonville, AR 72712 or First United Methodist Church of Bella Vista, 20 Boyce Drive, Bella Vista, AR 72715.
With a disarming happiness he attributed to his “country boy” roots, Anderson helped people when they were most vulnerable: Until he retired, he regularly worked on Allstate Corp. catastrophe teams writing insurance checks and arranging for emergency home repairs after devastating tornadoes and hurricanes across the southeastern U.S.
Anderson worked 28 years for the company. He began as an adjuster and was promoted to a regional analyst and property unit manager in Kansas City until he retired in 1995 as its resident claims adjuster in Joplin, Missouri.
Late in his career, he spent eight months working insurance claims in California.
He was most proud of his two daughters and four grandchildren. He was so innocently, outwardly friendly he would try to strike up a conversation with anyone – strangers or friends, young or old – in restaurants, retail stores, parking lots or elsewhere. He loved to talk to people.
Anderson was born into a family of farmers in February 1940 in the Missouri town that bore his ancestral name, founded in the late 1880s. His great-grandfather, Robert, operated the town’s first Post Office and blacksmith’s forge. J.R. Anderson was one of eight children born to parents Ted and Jessie.
The farm remained in the family until its sale last year. Seven decades later – despite a rich lifetime living in the suburbs – the memory of those early-age farm chores was so ingrained that in his occasional Alzheimer’s-induced fog he was convinced that he still needed to milk the cows.
Anderson played varsity baseball at Anderson High, now known as McDonald County High, attended Joplin Junior College and earned a bachelor’s degree in automotive science from Pittsburg State University in Kansas.
He married his wife, a schoolteacher, in 1963. He served in the Missouri National Guard for 14 years, retiring as a sergeant.
The couple had their oldest daughter, Ginger, in 1967, just before moving to Kansas City, where Anderson began working with Allstate. Another daughter, Jill, was born in 1970. The family returned in 1979 to his roots in southwest Missouri, moving to Joplin.
Outside work, Anderson was an avid deer hunter and angler, fishing with his brothers during extended trips in Canada and Alaska for walleye, pike, and salmon, and during a visit to Gatun Lake in Panama. He also hunted elk in Colorado with his brother Bud.
An ambitious golfer, Anderson played regularly on weekends and shot in the high 70s at the peak of his play. A hole in one eluded him during his lifetime, although his wife scored one while he was teaching her the sport – an inside joke between them for decades afterward.
Golf and fishing were so important to him, even years after his illness made them impossible. Some nights in his Alzheimer's confusion, he would mis-remember fishing with his grandsons earlier in the day or describe in breathtaking detail a round of golf he believed he had played – complete with weather updates and commentary on his putting or chipping prowess.
Anderson retired from Allstate the same year his first grandson was born – Zachary – who unexpectedly died hours afterward. The scarring pain from that milestone loss deeply wounded Anderson, and he spent the next two decades deeply involved in the lives of his four surviving grandchildren attending baseball, bowling, gymnastics and swim-and-dive tournaments across the United States and cheering them from the bleachers.
“No one will be able to understand how much this man meant to me and what all he has done for me in my life,” said his grandson, Joshua.
In 2002, Anderson and his wife moved south across the Arkansas state line to Bella Vista to buy a home on a golf course and enjoy their retirement. They traveled extensively across Europe, the Caribbean and South Pacific, often aboard cruise ships.
J.R. is survived by wife, Layne Anderson, daughters Ginger Bridis (Ted) of Gainesville, Florida, and Jill Anderson Patterson Stout (Mike) of Bella Vista; grandchildren: Trey Bridis of Gainesville; Joshua Patterson of Bella Vista; Alyx Bridis of Fairfax, Virginia; Jesseca Patterson of Bella Vista; Joseph Stout (Mary) of Mt. Vernon, Missouri; Michael Stout (Kara) of Nixa, Missouri; Brittani Stout of Tulsa, Oklahoma and 2 great grandchildren; also, brothers Buddy Anderson
(Marilyn) of Windsor, Colorado, and Paul Anderson (Donna) of Grove, Oklahoma; sister Connie Coonrod (Joe) of Rolla, Missouri; and nieces and nephews.
Anderson was preceded in death by brothers Ted Anderson of Fort Collins, Colorado, and Jerry Anderson of Seneca, Missouri; and sisters Patsy Hackney of Norwalk, California, and Helen Stephens of Anderson.
Graveside service will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, March 26, 2021 at Peace Valley Cemetery in Anderson, Missouri.
The family asks that contributions in Anderson’s memory be made to Circle of Life Hospice, 1201 NE Legacy Parkway, Bentonville, AR 72712 or First United Methodist Church of Bella Vista, 20 Boyce Drive, Bella Vista, AR 72715.
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