Keith was born to Bernard and Eunice Anderson on September 21, 1929 at St. Elizabeth Hospital in Yakima, and died peacefully surrounded by his family on February 3, 2019 at Cottage in the Meadow in Yakima. He lived his entire life on Naches Heights where he grew fruit, like his father before him, and where his daughter Gayle and son-in-law George continued to farm after Keith's retirement.
Keith attended Cowiche schools, graduating from Highland High School in 1947. He met his wife LaDonna Scott while at Highland High and they were married in 1949 after she graduated. Together for nearly 70 years, they had two daughters, Tamera and Gayle.
As a young man, Keith wanted a career in forestry, but ended up growing his own “Anderson National Forest” adjacent to the home they built in 1957. He created a beautiful picnic area where the family hosted their near daily coffee hours as well as countless lunches, dinners, and various celebrations under the towering pines he and the family planted over the years.
Keith was a voracious reader, with a wide range of interests that included popular fiction as well as books on travel, food, and gardening. He loved making things grow and had many varieties of roses which he added to each year by going to Bi-Mart to find new bare root types. Love of roses was something he got from his dad who also loved to grow roses. His newest interest was in dahlias, which he shared with family and friends. He also loved a good bottle of wine or a glass of Trader Joe's scotch all the way to his final days. Happy hours were indeed happy times for Keith and LaDonna whether at home or when traveling with friends or family.
Keith loved his family, community, and country. He and LaDonna followed and supported the various activities of their two daughters as well as those of their grandchildren and great grandchildren. As a farm family, they had "coffee time" every day but Sunday at 10 am, when everyone stopped work and gathered for an hour to share what was going on in their lives. He also served on the Naches Heights Community Center Board, the local FHA Board, and spent 25 years on the Naches Heights Fire Department. Their support also included many civic causes including assistance to rebuild the Capitol Theater after it burned in the 1970s.
After retirement, Keith and LaDonna enjoyed traveling in their motor home. They visited many parts of the country and for over 20 years wintered in the Palm Springs area where they met many new friends. When visiting Palm Springs last year, they made sure to stop by friends they had made years earlier for a good chat. They also enjoyed many adventures in Europe with Tamera and Gary. They rode on riverboats from Budapest to the beaches of Normandy, trains (including a mad dash to catch a train in Hamburg), and had a car trip from Denmark through Sweden to visit with Keith's extended family on the Swedish island of Orland.
Keith is survived by his wife LaDonna, as well as daughters Tamera Anderson Tollefson (Gary), and Gayle Anderson Dowd (George). He also is survived by grandchildren Marc Dowd (Abby), Jennifer Dowd, Kristen Beam (Dan), Kim Allan Anderson (Paul), and Sarah Tollefson Nance (Scott). He also has 16 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents Bernard and Eunice Anderson and his older brother Clair Anderson.
Keith's family wants to thank all of the caregivers at Cottage in the Meadow for their kindness and skill helping Keith be comfortable in his final days. Keith was diagnosed with three types of cancer in his lifetime and the family would welcome gifts in his memory to the National Cancer Society or to Cottage in the Meadow or Virginia Mason Memorial Hospice to assist in their care for the terminally ill.
A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.
Arrangements are in the care of Rainier Memorial Center.