The Anderson Children

In 2019 my Brother adopted his four grandchildren Adam 10, Chloe 8, Hayley and Savannah 6. On August 12 he passed away from a sudden Cardiac Arrest. These children were the light of his life and I am hoping to help raise some money to help my sister in law with the bills and expenses - I have included his obituary so you can see my brother as I saw him a true hero to many- Thank you

William F. Anderson (AKA “Billy,” “Bill,” “Willie,” and “Buggah”), 64, of Holliday, Texas passed away on Saturday, August 12, 2023 from a sudden cardiac arrest. He was born in Quincy, Massachusetts on September 16, 1958 to Cliff and Patricia Anderson.

Bill was the middle child of the family and often claimed that he was the most unlikeable. Being 10 years older than his sister Tricia, he became the “built-in babysitter” and they became inseparable. Even when he was far away, they would call and visit frequently and were the best of friends. In his teen years, his relationship with his Aunt Peggy helped to guide a hot-headed and mischief-inclined young man to the wise, compassionate, and disciplined man he became.

Bill graduated from Whitman-Hanson Regional High School in 1976 during the bicentennial. From a young age, he had a passion for engines: muscle cars, World War II aircraft, motorcycles, trains, semi-trucks, boats, and anything with a “Briggs and scrap ’em.” He memorized and compared the specifications of most muscle car engines often. This passion was a defining aspect of his life. He drag-raced his 1969 Camaro Z28 and got to fly in a P-51 Mustang.

Bill had an eclectic taste in music and listened to everything from rock to classical. He could name most songs from the first bar or two, recite the lyrics of most of them, and tell you the names of all the band members. Bill read extensively and was a well-educated man. His interests ranged from history to engineering to politics and he was well-versed in all of it.

Bill eagerly took the road less traveled. He took all of them - on a 1977 HD Sportster. At 20 years old, he put his job on hold; he bought his dream bike; and took to the open road across county for the first time. Dreadfully under-equipped and blissfully unaware of the weather forecast, he left New England in September and headed for the other coast. His “touring” as he called it, would cause him to live in 8 states. He would work and save his money so he could ride some more. Over the course of the next 30 years, he would log over 650,000 miles on the back of a motorcycle and visit 49 states. He was a test rider for Harley Davidson twice and learned to road race when he was in his fifties. He owned many Harleys, a couple of Hondas, and an orange Aprilia. He loved his Italian motorcycle.

Bill was a master mechanic by trade, but he started when his Uncle George helped him land a job sweeping the floor at a local trucking company. He was a line mechanic for Yellow Freight. He also worked as a cowboy on a ranch in California. He was a conductor for the Union Pacific Railroad. He was a test rider and he sold motorcycles in Alabama. He worked on heavy equipment in Nevada, and car repair in Arizona, Alaska, and New Mexico. He worked for a company that collected coal on the beach in Alaska. In Texas, he maintained a truck fleet for Wichita Sand & Gravel for 24 years. Here, he made the impossible possible and he definitely “rode for the brand.”

In 1999, in an effort to placate his mother, he called a woman in Texas. His mother and her mother had conspired since they were children to fix them up. He called her from Nevada. They talked for an hour and a half. In the coming months, they incurred outrageous telephone and airfare costs. Mom was right, and Bill moved to Texas. Two years later, Bill married his buttercup and helped to raise her three children. He took up horseback riding with her; they went touring in his pickup camper; and she got a Ducati and went motorcycle touring with him. (Sidenote: white bikes are faster than orange ones). He used to half-joke that they were too much alike. When the grandkids came along, Bill was in his element. Having brought each of them home from the hospital, he fell in love with Adam. Then Chloe. Then twins Savannah and Hayley – got them 2 for a buck. In 2019, at the age of sixty, he adopted all four of them. And what a daddy he was! From t-ball games to teacher conferences, late-night feedings and daycare pickups, he was what we all wish fathers were. During tax season, he learned to do it all and loved to show the kids what he loved: camping, reading books, the Three Stooges, tractor rides, the stars, and shooting grasshoppers with a bb gun.

The family was fortunate to have celebrated a family reunion in June at Lake Sebago Maine. Titled “The McGee Family Clan Bake,” it was the highlight of a lifetime for Bill and his little family. He was grateful for being able to introduce his little children to his extended family. How proud he was.

Earlier this year, Bill was elected to the Holliday city council and was hoping that he was knowledgeable enough to do a good job for the town he had come to love. He spoke to everyone and loved it.

Bill is preceded in death by his parents; his brother Bob Anderson; his uncles, Robert, Richard and Thomas McGee, and Ray Anderson; and aunt Joanne Draper.

Bill is survived by his wife, Lori Anderson; his children Adam, Chloe, Savannah and Hayley Anderson; his sister Tricia Duffey and husband Brian; his step-children Brendan, Stephanie and Jennifer Shults; his sister-in-law Karen Anderson; Nieces Erin and Molly Duffey and nephew Aidan Duffey; and many uncles, aunts, cousins and in-laws.