Stuart Swan Anderson Obituary (1941

Stu was born in Dundee, Scotland on December 11, 1941. Life in Scotland after World War II was not easy and in 1953 at the age of 12, he moved to Silverton Oregon to live with his parents Albert and Nan Rasmussen and his brother Stuart. It was here in Silverton and Oregon that Stu would begin friendships that would last his lifetime. In high school he was active in many clubs and activities. It was in band that he learned to play the drums. He would later play professionally while living in Oregon and when he moved to Phoenix. He was also on the high school annual staff as the photography editor and enjoyed photography all of his life, especially taking photos of the wildlife in Washington. He graduated from Silverton High School in 1959. In 1960 Stu joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Dahlgren as a guided missile technician. Upon his discharge from the service in 1964 he spent two years at Oregon State University. He went on to continue his schooling at Salem Technical College, earning an associates degree as an electronics technician. He should have been named the spokesperson for the "Shakey's Pizza Parlor" chain. Nobody made pizza as good as them and Stu would know. He worked many, many hours at Shakey's while struggling to pay his way thru school. To this day, every trip that was made to Oregon included a stop at Shakey's. After graduation from school he was hired by the Sperry Corporation to work at their aerospace facility in Phoenix, AZ. He spent much of his time at Sperry working on the Hubble Space Telescope. It was in Phoenix that he met his wife, Mary and where his daughter Karin was born. In 1987 he had an opportunity to move back to the Pacific Northwest and work for Honeywell in Washington State, doing contract work at Keyport. After several years he was transferred to the Honeywell facility at Mukilteo WA. Honeywell was eventually bought out by Alliant Tech Systems. It was with Alliant, that he finally retired in 1995. Stu always had a lifelong love for sailing. He kept a sailboat in San Diego for many years and would travel back and forth from Phoenix to his beloved boat, which he named "KJSunbaby" after his daughter, Karin Jean. After moving to the Pacific Northwest he would take up sailing once again. He loved spending time on his boat and taking trips around Puget Sound and into the San Juan Islands. Stu especially enjoyed spending time with his granddaughter. They would always be up to something whether it was crabbing, boating, working in the garage, going to the car or boat show, or riding in the beloved Mustang. He was and always will be her "Bapa". Stu enjoyed the many friends and friendships he had developed over his 74 years with his former co-workers, classmates, musician friends, boating friends and drinking buddies. We will miss having him in our lives.