Nils “Dick” Anderson, age 85, of Porter, MN passed away surrounded by his family on Thursday, February 17, 2022 at his home in Porter. Funeral service will be at 11:00a.m. on Thursday, February 24th at the Bethel Lutheran Church in Porter. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7p.m. on Wednesday, February 23rd at the Houseman Funeral Home-Birk Chapel in Canby with memories shared at 7pm. Visitation will resume one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at the Bethel Lutheran Church Cemetery. Houseman Funeral Home is entrusted with the arrangements.
Dick was born on Nov. 10, 1936, in Tyler, MN, to Nils and Martina (Corehouse) Anderson. He graduated from Minneota High School in 1954 and served in the US Army from 1955-1957, stationed in Germany. Once home, he took up farming outside of Taunton in Burton Township. In January 1959, he married Carol Fredericks, and he loved raising their four children. On July 3, 1991, he married Rose McLain and blended five more children into the family. Throughout his farming career, Dick raised butcher hogs (his “heritage hog” lines reaching back to the sow Uncle Knute gave him in high school) and grew cash crops. But he most enjoyed raising beef cattle, using horses and utility vehicles to drive them across pastures a couple of times a year, the day ending with family and friends around one of Rosie’s big meals and Dick’s drink of her homemade tomato juice in cold beer. Dick spent many days swathing hay to feed the cows and often ended up at Grengs Shop where Virgil could weld up whatever might have broken down on him that day. With his well-known grin and stories, Dick was a favorite relative and friend. He was up for anything, be it a drive across the country, a polka dance, or “julebukking.” In retirement, he happily played cards at the Taunton Senior Center and Porter Café and always loved a laughing coffee table of good neighbors, not thinking twice about their purses, politics, or religions. Dick was a voracious reader, subscribing to many regional and national farming and news magazines and papers. He liked Western books and movies, rodeos and horse-and-cattle talk, and making faces at little kids in the back pews of Bethel Lutheran to stir up an entertaining fuss. But most importantly, he bonded with his grandchildren and brought out their best by taking a true interest in their unique paths and loving them for who they were without judgment.
He is survived by his devoted wife, Rose; children Nancy (Mark) Syltie of Porter, MN, Rick (Denise) Anderson of Taunton, MN, Shelley (Brian) Ailts of Gillette, WY, and Randy (Brenda) Anderson of Sioux Falls, SD; Greg McLain of Cedar Rapids, IA, Pam McLain (Randy Miller) of Osceola, WI, John McLain of Taunton, MN, Jodi McLain (John) Richards of Grantsburg, WI, and Jessica (Ryan) Brassell of Golden, CO; grandchildren Thomas (Heather), Richard (Kayla Schelhaas), Martin (Megan), Benjamin, and Lana (Nick Butler) Syltie; Justin, Jerry (Heather), and Jon (Kaylee) Anderson and Caitlyn (Tavin) Sonnenberg; Ashlin (Nick) Wiebe and Kaeli (Anthony) Meyerink; Adalyn McLain; Sawyer Miller; Josephine Richards; and Julian Daugherty and Ragnar Brassell; great-grandchildren Brynn; Alden, Owen, and Sage; Colton, Cade, and CJ; Autum, Piper, and Elliott; Jaelin, Dax, and Rex; RaynaLee and Dalleyia; and Arya, Charlotte, and Brexlee; along with many nieces, nephews, and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; parents-in-law Warner and Verna Volk; sister and brother-in-law Marjorie and Larry Kosmalski; and other relatives and friends.