Deceased February 19, 2015
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50th Reunion Book Entry
In Memory
On Feb. 19, our beloved friend Dick Anderson died. Dick was a great man. His daughters agree that he was “The perfect father in the world. The Perfect.”
And there was never any question that Dick’s love for his family was the single most important factor in his life. Dick’s brother, Clifford Anderson ’52, eulogized that Dick was “A star, in all he did—in basketball, in business and with his family.”
In basketball, as captain, Dick led Amherst to the NCAA championship tourney for the first time ever. After Amherst, he climbed the Matterhorn, flew a plane solo and on one knee fit feet into shoes made by Kinney, a company he would soon lead as president.
Then he was president of Woolworth, a senior officer in Brown, on the board of Equitable Life, founder of Foot Locker and so on.
During the six decades I’ve known Dick, neither his family nor I have ever known him to criticize another person in anger.
Imagine that—let that sink in.
Dick was always a most enthusiastic booster of Amherst, and he worked for its success in every way he could. He was a class officer and a class agent and led a life that always reflected the highest ideals for which Amherst stood, for he was the archetypal role model of both a gentleman-scholar and a student-athlete.
Dick is survived by his loving wife of 44 years, Birgit; three daughters: Christin Anderson of San Francisco, Holly Puleo of Mendham, N.J. (James) and Karin Anderson of Hoboken, N.J.; brother Clifford Anderson of Little Silver, N.J.; two grandchildren, Lindsey and Andrew; and other extended family members.
Stephen L. Yale ’57
Kif Knight ’57
