Ferd E. Anderson

Ferd E. Anderson, Jr. was born February 27, 1925 in Wahoo at the family's home at 10th and Orange Streets, the son of Ferd E. and Helga (Torell) Anderson. He grew up in Wahoo and graduated from Wahoo High School where he excelled in academics and music and was a good athlete. He was appointed to USMA by Congressman Karl Stefan in 1943. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1946. Ferd received his Master's Degree from the University of Illinois in 1954 and also attended a variety of Army schools and colleges. He was a Registered Professional Engineer in Nebraska, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. Ferd served for 30 years in the Army Corps of Engineers, retiring in 1976 with the rank of Colonel. After Branch Immaterial, Basic Engineer Office, and Airborne Training courses, from 1947 to 1949, he was assigned to the Post Hostilities Mapping Program and served one year in Korea and one year in the Philippines. He was then assigned to the 42d Engineer Construction Bn at Fort Bragg NC where he met Army Lt. Florence C. Anderson of the Womens Medical Specialist Corps assigned to the Post Hospital as a Physical Therapist. Ferd and Jo were married in Sumter, SC on August 4, 1950. Within a week, Ferd was on his way to Korea, where he served in the I Corps HQ and later as Co C Commander of the 1092d Engineer Combat Battalion. Ferd was awarded the Legion of Merit with Oak Leaf Cluster Medal. From 1954 to 1958, he was involved in the nuclear weapons testing program while stationed in the Pentagon with the Armed Forces Special Weapons Project. He coordinated research with various universities and participated in the nuclear weapons testing programs in Nevada and the Pacific Island of Bikini. That experience resulted in his writing of portions of the books: "The Effects of Nuclear Weapons" published in 1957 and the "American Society of Civil Engineers Manual of Engineering Practice No 42: Design of Structures to Resist Nuclear Weapons Effects" published in 1961. He was next assigned to the US Army Construction Agency France in Verdun where he supervised construction of US Military and NATO facilities from 1959 to 1962, after which he was an instructor at the Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, KS until 1965. Ferd next served in Vietnam for one year as an Advisor to the II Vietnamese Corps Engineer in Pleiku. After that, he was assigned to the US Army Chief of Engineers office as Assistant Director of Civil Works which involved many liaison activities with the US Congress for four years. A civil works assignment in Vicksburg, MS from 1970 to 1973, as Secretary of the Mississippi River Commission and Deputy Engineer of the Lower Mississippi Valley Division preceded his final assignment to the US Army Europe office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics. Ferd became the Executive Director of the Consulting Engineers Council of Nebraska and the Executive Secretary of the Nebraska Society of Professional Engineers from 1978 to 1990. He then worked as Special Projects Coordinator in the Office of the Dean, College of Engineering and Technology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln from August 1990 to July 1993 after which he became fully retired. . Ferd was an active member of St. Marks on the Campus Episcopal Church where he participated in choir, Sunday School, and the Food Pantry. He and Jo also renovated a house in Mississippi and one in Lincoln. Ferd and Jo have seven children. Their second daughter, Leslie, died at the age of two and is buried in the Alexandria VA National Cemetery. Gwen Anderson Bast is a retired Army Sergeant First Class, now an Accountant in KY. The three boys are all Engineer graduates of the University of Nebraska. Ferd III works, for Intel, Saxby works as a civilian in the Corps of Engineers, and Bakers works for Valmont Industries. Lori is a Medical Doctor and Helga Reynolds is a mother and foster mother. He is survived by wife Florence, Lincoln; children G. Victoria Anderson (Robert Bast) Elizabethtown, KY, Ferd E. III (Monique) Anderson, Windsor, CO, Lori Anderson MD, Washington, DC, Saxby (Claudia) Anderson, West Palm Beach, FL, Baker (Rebecca) Anderson, Danville, PA, Helga (Mark) Reynolds, Lincoln, NE; grandchildren Isabelita Anderson, Rachel (Hans) Seller, Isaac Anderson, Hanna Anderson, Will Anderson, Eli Anderson, Simeon Reynolds, Mary Reynolds. Ferd was preceded in death by parents Ferd and Helga (Torell) Anderson; brothers Ben and Reed Anderson; sister Joan Anderson.