Rev. E. Earl Anderson

The Rev. E. Earl Anderson of Indiana, PA, formerly of Sewickley, PA, died on Sunday, January 18, 2015 at the age of 86. He was born in Kenora, Ontario, Canada on May 24, 1928, the fifth child of Swedish immigrants Bengt Anderson and Emma Kristina Berguson.

Earl was a respected pastor and community leader. He touched many lives, teaching in a positive, nurturing, and oftentimes humorous way. His first parish was St. Matthew’s of East Zorra Township and Bethany, Woodstock, Ontario in 1953 followed by Pennsylvania congregations located in Penn Hills (as a mission developer for the Board of American Missions), Sewickley, Blairsville, Smicksburg, and Trade City. While in Blairsville, he also served as Chaplain at Torrance State Hospital. After retirement in 1990, Earl served as interim pastor at Evangelical Lutheran Church in America churches within the northwestern and southwestern PA Synods. Finally, he served from January 2004 through March 2005 as the part-time assistant to the pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in Indiana, PA.

Earl graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from Waterloo College (University of Western Ontario) and with a Certificate of Theology from Waterloo Seminary. He was ordained by the United Lutheran Church, Canada Synod, in 1953. After decades of ministry, he received his Doctor of Ministry in 1991 from the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA and his Master of Sacred Theology in 1999 from the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Gettysburg, PA.

Over the years he served in many capacities and on many boards and committees for various organizations including the Greensburg Conference, the Southwestern Pennsylvania Synod’s Committee for Examination and Ordination, the Lutheran Campus Ministry Committee for Indiana University of Pennsylvania, delegate to the national church convention, and the Synod Council.

Earl was an avid music lover, a talented tenor vocalist, a voracious reader, and a teacher with a special knack for storytelling. He was a generous mentor, investing his time with students and endowing a scholarship for candidate seminary students.

He was a beloved husband and father, and is survived by his wife Caroline of Indiana, PA; his children Kris Volpatti and her husband Dan of Upper Saint Clair, PA; Tim Anderson and his wife Karen of New London, CT; and Kirk Anderson and his wife Dawn of State College, PA.

He is also survived by seven grandchildren, Jeremey Anderson of Warwick, RI; Bryan Anderson of Torrington, CT; Jessica Carlson and her husband Sam Carlson of Poulsbo, WA; Kim Volpatti of Pittsburgh, PA; Lisa Volpatti of Cambridge, MA; Heather Anderson of State College, PA; Lauren Anderson of State College, PA; and by one great grandchild, Finnian Carlson of Poulsbo, WA.

He is also survived by his brother Carl of Kenora, ON, and by several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his first wife Ruth Schlote Anderson of Kitchener, ON, mother of his three children.

Visitation will be held from 2pm to 4pm and from 6pm to 8pm on Friday January 23rd at the Bowser-Minich funeral home, in Indiana, PA. A funeral service will be held at 11am on Saturday January 24th at Zion Lutheran church in Indiana.

Interment will be at the Kitchener Mount Hope cemetery in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Rev. Dr. E. Earl Anderson Seminary Scholarship Endowment Fund, as part of the ELCA Fund for Leaders Program. Their telephone is 800-638-3522; their mailing address is ELCA Foundation, 8765 West Higgins Road, Chicago, IL 60631.