Obituary of John Laing Anderson

Well, he was never going to live forever, although in the heady pre-Covid days, it seemed as though he might. In 2020, Jack was bowling in three leagues and golfing at Twin Willows five days a week, weather permitting, all in his 95th year. Then came Covid. Our mom passed in April of 2020, and in the week of her death, Jack spent five days in the hospital with the virus and it seemed likely that we were going to lose them both in the same week. Not surprisingly, he survived, but he was never really the same thereafter. His strength, stamina and interest in life, really, started to ebb and he began a steady physical and mental decline which culminated in his passing peacefully in Belmar on February 22nd.

John Laing “Jack” Anderson was born on August 4th,1925 in Montclair, New Jersey, the youngest of four children. His mother, Mary, was born in Scotland and his father, Robert, in Pennsylvania. For a bit during the Depression, Jack, his brother Don and sister Marge were sent to live with relatives in Pennsylvania for a couple of years while his father traveled around looking for work. Jack graduated from Montclair High in 1943 and enlisted in the Coast Guard. Since he didn’t turn 18 until that August, he could not report until then and was drafted by the Army in the meantime. The story goes that the Coast Guard did not take kindly to that, met the bus at Fort Dix and whisked him off to Coast Guard boot camp and robbing the Army of his presence.

Jack was stricken with rheumatic fever during his first months in boot camp and was only cured because he agreed to take an experimental drug called penicillin. He resisted an attempt to be medically discharged and was assigned to guard TVA installations in Tennessee; later during the war he served on a troop transport ship in the Atlantic heading for Italy, just as the war in Europe was ending. The troop transport was refitted as a hospital ship and Jack helped bring 8,000 wounded combatants back home. Upon arrival in Boston, Jack was reassigned to the Pacific theater where he was placed on a munitions/refueling ship on its way to Japan. While 200 miles off the Japanese coast, the atomic bombs were dropped and that war was over. He spent time in Hawaii and Long Beach before his discharge in 1946.

After a year at Seton Hall on the GI Bill, Jack got a job at the Retail Credit Corporation (now Equifax) and never looked back. He married fellow big band enthusiast, Mary Boyce, also of Montclair, in 1950, in a “mixed marriage” (he was not Catholic) and settled in Bloomfield. Over the next nine years six children were born (somebody was Catholic!): John, Jean, Mary Louise, Rosemary, David and Paul. We were bursting out of our home on Johnson Ave when

Paul was due, so Jack built a new house that would accommodate our growing family. He moved us to that bigger house on Glenfield Road, and six years later, Eileen came along.

In 1957, Jack joined the Commonwealth Club of Upper Montclair, which quickly became his home away from home. Many of his best friends were members as well, among them the Heyrichs, Biancos, Uhls and Anglebecks. He was an avid bowler and card player and constructed his work schedule so that he could play gin with the guys every afternoon. Jack became very active in the workings of the club and served on the board of trustees and as an officer for many terms. He was president when a fire gutted the back half of the Club in 1985, and he led the recovery efforts, which resulted in selling off the Valley Road side of the Club property, which created the investment account that we still use today. The Club was rebuilt, reopened and, despite some ups and downs, is thriving with a pre-Covid level of membership.

Jack remained the heart and soul of the organization he loved, long into his nineties. His name adorns most of the award plaques for tournaments won over the years, and is considered the beloved GOAT by the membership. He was never happier, especially over the last few years, when his mind and memory were on the wane, than when he could stop by and hold court as guys came up to say hello. The annual Turkey Shoot Tournament was renamed in his honor a few years ago and he will never be forgotten by anyone who ever met him.

When John and Monica bought a house in Belmar in 1985, Jack became a permanent guest and resident handyman. He quickly became one of the group of friends that grew out of those Belmar years, becoming a fixture at all the porch dinners, parties and beach excursions and he remained close friends to many until the end. He enjoyed traveling to family reunions and took up golf quite late in life. Some other highlights include the trip to Scotland for his 80th birthday; the Honor Flight he did a few years ago with his fellow WWII veterans; visiting the California sibs (including one trip where he accompanied our brother, David, who was dying of AIDS, on a flight to the west coast to say goodbye to that side of the family-a remarkable act of selflessness), countless birthdays, barbeques and parties.

Jack was pre-deceased by his wife of nearly 70 years, Mary; his son, David, his brothers, Gordon and Don and his sister, Marge. Special thanks to Eileen and Louie, who lived with and cared for him over the last five years so that he would have a home without being in one. He is survived by son John (Monica), daughters Jean, Louie, Rosemary, Eileen and son Paul (Penny). He has seven grandchildren and eight great grandchildren.

There is a notice on the Moriarity Funeral Home website: https://moriartyfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/945/John-Anderson/obituary.html#tribute-start

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation in Jack’s name to:

Atlantic Hospice: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=6GEU9Q4F99RMA

Backpacks For Life: https://www.backpacksforlife.org/donate

There will be no wake or services, as per Jack’s wishes, but we will plan for a celebration of life at the Commonwealth Club on the weekend of August 2nd and 3rd to mark what would have been his 100th birthday. Details to follow. Hope to see a lot of you there!