It is with heartfelt sadness that we report the passing of longtime DAS member John Anderson

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John Edgar Anderson

February 23,1938 – May 4, 2023

It is with heartfelt sadness that we report the passing of longtime DAS member John Anderson, who specialized in solar astronomy and spectroscopy.

 

 

John Edgar Anderson, 85, of Nederland, CO, passed away on May 4, 2023 at Boulder Community Hospital. John was born on February 23, 1938 in Ridgewood, New Jersey to Edna (Camp) and George Anderson. He attended schools in Ridgewood and graduated from Ridgewood High School before attending Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York earning his BS in Physics. He then married and began his career in the U.S. Army.

John’s early life included family vacations on the coast of Maine, developing a love of playing and watching ice hockey and involvement in the Boy Scouts, culminating with earning his Eagle Scout. He especially enjoyed “going west” to Philmont Scout Camp in northern New Mexico. He returned there as an archeologist's assistant for additional summers and discovered a love of the outdoors and the west that directed his continued travels to Colorado and New Mexico and a desire to live there one day. In his teens, he developed a passion for cars including helping repair and rebuild cars, building race cars and then owning a series of Porsches. At Clarkson, he studied physics, was a hockey goalie and member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. He met Judith Schulz and they married July 7, 1962 after completing their education. John entered the Army through ROTC in college. He served until 1989 and retired as a Colonel from his nearly 30 year career in military intelligence. His service included being stationed at Vint Hill, Arlington Hall, the Pentagon, National Security Agency, 3 tours in Turkey and tours in Vietnam. During his Army career, he commanded a unit in Sinop, in far northern Turkey on the Black Sea, was assigned to the office of the Secretary of the Air Force as an expert in signals intelligence, and worked with NASA.  Although busy with his military career, John enjoyed time with Judy and their 2 children including family vacations – road-trips, camping, canoeing, and skiing during their time in the U.S. and abroad.

Throughout his life, he had many hobbies and interests. These included being a Ham Radio operator with licensure since the 1960s, wood worker, photographer, silversmith and stone cutter. Once he retired, John was excited to finally live in his favorite setting, the mountains of the west. They moved to Nederland, Colorado from the Washington D.C. area in November 1989. He took his skiing hobby to another level through volunteering, teaching blind and disabled skiing and many other roles with the Eldora Special Recreation Program/IGNITE Adaptive Sports Program at Eldora Ski Area. He enjoyed hiking, skiing, and snowshoeing in the mountains near their home. John and Judy traveled visiting many National Parks, skiing at every Colorado ski area and attending numerous Star Parties and astronomy events. He was an avid astronomer and even built his own backyard observatory. He enjoyed his membership in the Denver and Colorado Springs Astronomical Societies and sat on the board for the Van Natten-Hansen Scholarship. He especially loved his studies of, exposing others to and teaching anyone about his many passions. In the last several years, he focused his time with family and
enjoyed the varied accomplishments of his three teenage granddaughters.

John is survived by his son, Jim Anderson, his wife, Alicia Fritsch, and their daughter, Mia, of Chicago, IL and his daughter, Lee Brennan, her husband, Steve, and their twin daughters, Molly and Katelyn, of Black Hawk, CO. He is further survived by his brother, David Anderson, his wife, Maureen, of Albuquerque, NM and their two daughters and families and his brother-in-law, Jeffery Schulz, and his wife, Betty, of San Antonio, TX and their children and families. John was preceded in death by his loved wife, Judith Anderson (1940-2017), and his parents. John’s family will have a small, private memorial to celebrate his life.

We request that those who wish to express sympathy will consider making a donation in John Anderson’s honor to one of his favorite charities.

You can also leave messages of condolence for his friends and family here:
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/longmont-co/john-anderson-11279506