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.
