Daily Press (Newport News, VA) - Wednesday, April 21, 1993
Paul "Andy" Mitchell Anderson, 81, founder of Anderson's Florist and Garden Center on Jefferson Avenue, died Monday, April 19.
Mr. Anderson's interest in gardening first blossomed with the help of his mother Cora, who grew everything from vegetables to flowers on the family farm in Chilhowie. In 1940, he helped dismantle an abandoned greenhouse in Hampton and used the plastic to build his own greenhouse.
Although he was an electrician at Newport News Shipbuilding for 27 years, Mr. Anderson continued to work to make the backyard hobby a successful business. Once World War II began and victory gardens began popping up in the area, Mr. Anderson's dream began to flourish. By the end of the war, he was selling flowers to Woolworth & Co. in downtown Newport News.
In 1953, he moved his family and his greenhouse to a two-acre plot on Jefferson Avenue, where his nursery was launched as a wholesale operation. Anderson's Nursery officially opened in 1954 with African violets, poinsettias, azaleas, camellias and the area's first Big Boy tomato plants among its plants.
Mr. Anderson retired in 1962 from the shipyard and devoted his time to running the nursery. He sold the business in 1972 to his youngest son Clark, the current operator. Clark and his older brother Eddie, who bought McDonald's Garden Center in 1973, attribute their love of gardening to their father.
"He had a tremendous amount of influence in our lives," the brothers were quoted as saying in a 1988 Daily Press article.
Mr. Anderson, a Peninsula resident for 58 years, was a former member of Duplicate Bridge Club, Unit 110.
Besides his sons, he is survived by his wife, Ruth B. Anderson; a sister, Buelah A. Long of Johnson City, Tenn.; and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 7 tonight at W.J. Smith & Son Funeral Home by the Rev. H. Jack Lynch with visitation afterward until 8:30 p.m. Burial will be private.
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