All,
Since many folks from across the country have sent letters and made posts about Art and the Anderson family, I thought that I should make a follow-up post. Many TechnoKats attended Art Anderson's funeral today. About a dozen kids got out of school, joined about 8-9 mentors and we headed down to Indy for the ceremony. I was impressed by the formal dress that the students wore for this event.
The ceremony was attended by many, many friends and family. There were a few hundred crammed into the room. The back wall was lined with Boy Scouts and Scout Leaders. A young female rabbi from Kokomo's Temple B'nai Israel presided over the event and did a fantastic job. She told us about all that Art is and has been involved in, which was surprising to all in the room. I didn't know that Art started the University of Illinois college radio station while he studied there. I didn't know that Art built and flew his own plane for family vacations. I didn't know that Art and Alan would build their own computers in the 70's and 80's.
The ladies in Art's family sang beautiful songs during the service, and his daughters spoke about Art's work for the local Temple, the TechnoKats, and what all he did for his family.
Also, a father and son who have been involved in the Boy Scouts for a long time both spoke to us. The father served as a Scout Master with Art, and told us all about how Art would always fix everything (which was the theme throughout this ceremony and his lifetime). Then, this father introduced his son to speak, but before handing over the microphone, he asked all of the scouts in the room to recite the
Boy Scout Oath. We saw about 60 men and boys stand up right away and begin saying their oath. Then, slowly, there was an older gentlemen, most likely in his late 80's or 90's, sitting to the right of Mary and I, as he joined in with the scouts. When he rose his right hand and made his pledge, most of us reached for our tissues.
After the ceremony, many folks went out to the cemetery for the burial. Later in the day, friends and family started visiting the Anderson family at the shiva at Art and Bette's house. We didn't stay very long there, but it was good to see family and friends, along with the Superintendent of Kokomo Schools pay his respect.
It was a lovely and sad celebration. I was able to print out the kind words in this thread and hand it to Bette. She appreciated what you all have said on ChiefDelphi and the facebook posts.
Sincerely,
Andy Baker