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Newspaper Clippings for
October, 1963

from the pages of the Waukegan News-Sun 1 October 1963
Farm Bureau Chief
Found Hanged
Eric E. Anderson, 61, president of the Lake County Farm Bureau, was found hanged yesterday in the barn on his 500 acre farm on Rte. 45 near Millburn.
The body was found by his mother-in-law, Mrs. Anna Bauman, 79, shortly before 11 a.m. after Anderson's wife, Alice, called to ask her mother to check on him.
Mrs. Anderson told sheriff's deputies he had tried to cut his wrists late Sunday night, telling his wife he felt as if his mind were slipping because of bad pains in his head.
She said she bandaged his wrists and he arose in good spirits yesterday and went to work at 8 a.m. Mrs. Bauman said her son-in- law had told her he was going out to feed the cattle about a half hour before she found him.
Mrs. Anderson, a teacher at the Millburn School; said her husband had not been in ill health except for a kidney infection last spring.
Efforts by the Lake Villa Rescue Squad to revive him failed. Sheriff's deputies said he apparently threw a rope over a rafter, tied one end to a threshing machine, the other end around his neck and jumped off the machine.
Mr. Anderson, a 25-year member of the Lake County Farm Bureau and a director for nine years, was elected president in 1957. In 1955, he had been named to succeed his late brother as president of the Millburn Mutual Insurance Co.
Three years ago he was elected a director of the Illinois Agricultural Association and was also a director of the Lake-Cook Farm Supply Co.
Mr. Anderson also was an auditor and 10-year member of the Lake Villa Township Board, a former justice of the peace, vice president of the Lake County Civic League, secretary of the Lake Villa Fire Protection District, secretary and past master of Millburn Masonic Lodge AF & AM and member of the Millburn Congregational Church.
Mr. Anderson was born Aug. 22, 1902, near Gurnee where he went to school. The family moved to Waukegan for a short time before he, a brother and his mother bought a 140-acre farm near Millburn in 1918.
Survivors include his widow, Alice, a daughter, Mrs. R. Louis (Rebecca) Wall of Charleston, S. C.; two brothers, Philip of Millburn and R. Edward of Phoenix, Ariz.; three sisters, Mrs. Anna Lossman of Waukegan, Mrs. Carrie Irving of Antioch, and Miss Margaret Anderson of Millburn and one grandchild.
Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Strang Funeral Home, 1055 Main St., Antioch, with the Rev. L. H. Messersmith of the Millburn Congregational Church officiating. Burial will be in Millburn Cemetery.
Friends may call at the funeral home after 7 p.m. today. Masonic services will be held at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the funeral home. Friends may contribute to the Millburn Congregational Church or the Millburn Masonic Lodge.


Eric Anderson, 61,
Noted Leader, Dies
Funeral services for Eric E. Anderson, 61, of Rte. 45, Millburn, noted Midwestern farm leader and an important cog in the fight for sound county government, are scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 3.
The rites are planned for 1:30 p.m. in the Strang Funeral Home in Antioch with the Rev. L. H. Messersmith, his pastor, of the Millburn Congregational Church, officiating. Interment is scheduled for Millburn Cemetery.
Members of the Masonic Order held services for him in the funeral chapel Wednesday evening.
Besides a heart condition, which had worried him for sometime, Mr. Anderson was stricken with a severe kidney ailment while he and his wife, Alice, were visiting their daughter, Mrs. R. Louis (Rebecca) Wall, in Charleston, S. C., two months ago.
Even after he returned home Mr. Anderson had to be hospitalized again and several times it was feared that he would not recover. When he finally was released from the hospital he spent considerable time at home recuperating while his work-he had a reputation for being able to do two days work in one-was piling up.
Not only his deteriorating physical condition but the mounting backlog of work worried him and left him depressed. He grew despondent. The climax was inevitable. He was found Monday in the garage of his farm home where he had hanged himself. He had met his problem head on-the same way he had met problems all his life.
Some idea of the amazing workload he carried can be obtained by the following:
He was an auditor of Lake Villa Township; he was vice president of the Lake County Civic League, he was secretary of the Lake Villa Fire Protection District and president of the Lake County Farm Bureau.
In addition he was a director in District 1 of the Illinois Agricultural Assn., he was a director of the Lake-Cook Farm Supply Co., he was president of the Millburn Mutual Insurance Co., and besides that he directed the operation of his farm in Millburn where he had lived since 1918.
Mr. Anderson's efforts in government were appreciated both inside and on the outside of government. Each year he and a handful of experts in the Lake County Civic League sat down with the Finance Committee of the Lake County Board of Supervisors to work out the budget for the year. This was the first time-due to his serious illness-that Mr. Anderson could not help the Finance Committee.
As late as last Saturday he attended an affair at the Farm Bureau but friends noticed he seemed dispirited and attributed his attitude to his deteriorating health.
His principal fraternal affiliation was with the Millburn Masonic Lodge, No. 127, AF & AM where he was secretary and a Past Master.
Mr. Anderson lived his lifetime in Lake County. Born Aug. 22, 1902 in Gurnee he later moved to Waukegan where he lived until he went to Millburn in 1918. In spiritual affairs he was affiliated with the Millburn Congregational Church where he was a member.
Besides his widow and daughter he is survived by two brothers, Philip in Millburn, and R. Edward, in Phoenix, Ariz., and three sisters; Mrs. Anna Lossman, of Waukegan; Mrs. Carrie Irving, of Antioch; and Miss Maragaret Anderson, of Millburn. There is one grandchild.
Persons wishing to make a contribution may give either to the Millburn Congregational Church or his lodge, The Millburn Masonic Lodge, 127, AF & AM.
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