Obituary of Erwin Anderson

Erwin Anderson passed away with family by his side on Sunday, June 18, 2017 at St. Paul’s Hospital Palliative Care at the age of 72 after a courageous battle with cancer. Left to cherish his memory are his loving wife Joan; daughter Shannon (Dave) Steeg, and grandchildren Brendan and Gracen; granddaughters Megan and Katlyn Anderson; step-daughters Tracey (Jason) Armbruster, Terri Schick, Tamara (Craig) Willson; and granddaughters Brooke and Bree; brother Les (Diane); sister Elaine (Derek) and numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins. Erwin was predeceased by his parents Andy and Leona (nee Toner), son Bryce, aunts, uncles, and nephew. Erwin was born on February 2, 1945, in Olds, AB. He grew up in Calgary, AB, where he went to school then met and married Bettyann Jacobson in 1964. Erwin had a lengthy career as a power lineman which took his family to numerous towns in Saskatchewan. He developed his passion for flying while living in Kindersley and purchased his first airplane in the late ‘70’s. He started his own company, Anderson Aviation, where he instructed ground school, flew charters and did pipeline patrol. The remainder of his career was spent as a lineman and pilot, however, his passion has always been flying. In 2002, Erwin met his soulmate, Joan, and they were married in 2003. They enjoyed fishing, camping, travelling, watching movies, spending time with family and friends and spending time together. Erwin referred to Joan as his “bride” or his “girl” and she called him “sweetie”. He was a true gentleman and treated Joan with love, respect and kindness. Erwin enjoyed many sports such as hunting, fishing, golf, curling and skiing. He loved to travel and has visited various destinations in Canada, the US and the Dominican. He was an avid photographer and took a lot of family photos and was hired at times to do wedding photos. He had a deep love of music and was very talented musically; he played the guitar, violin and drum, and learned how to make his own guitar. He also learned how to make a knife and was very proud of it. He had an Australian whip and practiced using it, despite a few accidents. He was known for his love of politics and always enjoyed a gregarious political debate. Erwin had many many friends and colleagues and will be remembered as a kind, thoughtful, respectful gentleman who was fun, intelligent and loved his family. He was easy going, fun-loving and had a very contagious laugh. He will be missed by everyone whose life he touched.