John Anderson

John Joseph Anderson, 87, of Aplington, passed away on May 17, 2019, at Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo. A visitation will be held on Wednesday, May 22, from 5-8 PM at First Christian Reformed Church in rural Wellsburg. A funeral service will be held on Thursday, May 23, at 1 PM at the church with visitation resuming at 12 PM from the evening prior. A private inurnment will be held at the First Christian Reformed Church Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the family. Abels Funeral And Cremation Service, Doyen-Chapel is taking care of John and his family. Online messages of condolences may be made at www.abelsfuneralhomes.com.

John Joseph Anderson was born on September 2, 1931, on the family farm outside of Wellsburg to his parents Andrew and Annie (Eygabroad) Anderson. He attended the rural country school outside of Wellsburg. John was united in marriage to Marie Abbas on July 10, 1953, at the Ackley Christian Reformed Church. They made their home on the Anderson farm outside of Wellsburg where John carried on his parent’s dairy farm. John and Marie farmed from 1953 to 1973 when they moved to Aplington to take over Marie’s parents farm. John was a dairy farmer through and through, working hard to provide for his family and loved his job deeply, as well as his registered holsteins.

John enjoyed spending his time with his family, including his children and grandchildren when he wasn’t hard at work on the farm. He worked for some time as an A.I. technician for the American Breeder Service and served on the Grundy County Fair Board. John was known for his “tinkering” nature, fixing a wide variety of things from tractors to things in the house.

John is survived by his loving wife Marie of Aplington; children Rodney Anderson of Hattiesburg, MS, Michael (Diane) Anderson of Van Horne, IA, Derwin Anderson of Aplington, Shelly (David) Hook of Grundy Center, and daughter-in-law Brenda (Mark Bessman) Anderson of Wellsburg; grandchildren Gene (Allysen) Anderson, Trisha (Brian) Kajewski, Cassie (Brad Dufel) Anderson, Miriam (Mike Breeden) Anderson, Heather Anderson, Aaron Anderson, Travis Hook, and Blake (Haley) Hook; great-grandchildren Lane and Justin Anderson, Boone and Alexa Kajewski, Armani Breeden, and Ameria Anderson; brother Duane Anderson of Parkersburg. John was preceded in death by his parents, son Daryl, brothers George and Warren, and sister Pearl.