Charles L. Anderson

September 13, 1930 — April 22, 2015

Charles L. Anderson was born in Seattle on Sept. 13, 1930 and was welcomed into glory on April 22, 2015.

He grew up in the Fremont area, the youngest of five children born to Charles W. and Ruth Anderson. The family moved to Friday Harbor in 1944 when “Charlie” was 13 years old.

He graduated from Friday Harbor High School in 1948 and headed off to college at the UW, where he rowed on the Freshman Eight crew team. After his freshman year, he transferred to Western in Bellingham, where he met Barbara Lange. He graduated in 1952 with a degree in economics, and then went back to the UW to start work on a degree in accounting.

Barbara and Chuck married in August of 1953. Six weeks later, he received a draft notice from the U.S. Army and the newlyweds were stationed in New York City. As soon as he was discharged, they headed back home to Washington to raise a family. The couple moved to Camano Island in 1979. Chuck’s beloved wife, Barbara, passed away in 2012 and son, Dave, joined her in heaven in 2013. Those left to follow are sister Miriam Ewing in Ferndale, daughter Becky Barton (Joel) in Edmonds, daughter Linda Aruffo in Switzerland, and son Paul (Marie) in Anacortes.

Chuck was very proud of his seven grandkids: Heather & Peter Aruffo, Ben (Laura), Kate and Jenna Anderson, and Sarah and Anna Barton.

Chuck had an interesting and varied career. In 1956, he started work at Haskins & Sells as a junior auditor/CPA. He moved on to Tally Corporation in 1960, serving as controller for six years. He was very interested in new technology, so left Tally to work for Physio Control (as the number 10 employee). Chuck co-founded Teltone Corporation in 1968 and served as president from 1970-1981. He was not the type of CEO to stay behind a desk and regularly walked around the plant greeting each employee by name. He continued on as chairman of the board at Teltone until he “hung up his spurs” when the company was sold in 2008.

In the 1970s, Chuck began serving on various corporate boards. He took that role seriously and gained a reputation for honesty, integrity and hard work. He eventually transitioned into serving on the boards of local Christian organizations, including CRISTA Ministries (for over 20 years) and the Stewardship Foundation (14 years).

Chuck also had a long relationship with Seattle Pacific University. He started out on the advisory committee for the School of Business. In 1980, he was invited to join the board of trustees, where he served for the next 16 years. Chuck enjoyed spending time on campus and talking with the students. He was a current board member of the Seattle Pacific Foundation and had been since 1992.

His most important legacy, however, was having three children and five grandchildren attend SPU (plus a daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law).

Chuck loved being with his family, especially participating in outdoor activities. He enjoyed gardening, boating, splitting wood, and spending time at the family cabin on Shaw Island. But his favorite activity was walking on the beach with Barbara, picking up agates and beach glass along the way.

As a teenage boy in Friday Harbor, he took daily walks on the beach with his dog, and in his later years he returned to this daily routine with a driftwood walking stick in hand.

Chuck had a real passion for Christian philanthropy. He and Barbara started the Anderson Family Foundation in 1974. He loved meeting people and made it a priority to maintain relationships with numerous ministries working for the cause of Christ, both locally and around the world. Chuck’s personal faith in Jesus Christ deepened throughout his life. He attended Bible Study Fellowship for many years, and enjoyed participating in the community life of Warm Beach Free Methodist Church.

Charles Anderson was many things to many people: husband, dad, grandpa, mentor, friend, encourager… and his life intersected with countless numbers of people during his 84 years. He (and his sense of humor) will be greatly missed.

“Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)

A memorial service to honor Chuck’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, at the Warm Beach Free Methodist Church (20815 Marine Drive, Stanwood). In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Bible Study Fellowship.

— Family of Charles Anderson