Chester Eldon Anderson

On the morning of November 17, 2019, Chester Eldon "Chet" Anderson, 90, died in Colorado Springs in the company of his wife, his daughter and son-in-law, and two of his beloved grandchildren.He was born at home on February 18, 1929 in the rural town of Cold Springs, Missouri to Walter E. and Mayme Anderson. "Dos Equis calls that bearded guy the Most Interesting Man in the World?' They never met Chet," former next-door neighbor, David Montemayor said, "He was a real Renaissance man."Chet learned to fly planes at the age of 12 and told his kids stories about using them to chase cows through the pastures of central California. During high school, he worked as a cowboy on a cattle ranch near Bakersfield, California. In 1946, at the age of 17, he quit high school, enlisted in the Army on the G.I. Bill, and began his service in Japan, where he joined Company C, 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 11th Airborne Division. After suffering an injury on his last training jump, he worked as a mess sergeant and served in the Honor Guard for the completion of his service.Following his stint in the Army, Chet studied business administration in Berkeley, California, and began working in the Bay Area as a catalog merchandiser. His career took him to New York City (he once figured and often lamented that over twenty-five years, he spent a year of his life commuting on the Long Island Railroad), Wichita, Kansas, and Cheyenne, Wyoming before he retired to Colorado Springs in 1991. It was here that he and Patty built their dream home on the north side of town - just inside the Black Forest tree line - with views overlooking the Air Force Academy and Pikes Peak. Their home is still furnished with many pieces Chet built by hand. Always a gifted craftsman, he spent much of his free time woodworking, welding, and tinkering on his sports cars. He had a predilection for Porsches, and he loved to drive them. He traveled extensively, visiting all fifty states, more than forty countries, and all seven continents. He also enjoyed playing golf, hiking fourteeners, listening to country music, reading spy novels, and tickling his grandchildren.Over the years, he taught his kids how to drive a stick, ski the fall line, build a fire, and cast a dry fly. He was an expert skier and member of the Blazers Ski Club, for which he served as treasurer. Though raised Baptist, Chet was not a religious man, but was tolerant of those whose political or religious views differed from his own. He often referred to Colorado as "God's Country."Chet was not a big talker, but he was always an attentive audience. "You learn more when you listen," he said. He was a man who preferred to show his love not through his words but through his actions, and he was always very active.He is survived by his wife, Patty; six children, Gary (Mary), Jim (Nancy), Bob (Janice), Steve (Suzy), Greg (Terry), and Cathy (Dante) Giadone; nine grandchildren, Marc, Katie, Kim, Josh, Rebecca, Kevin, Calvin, Ava, and Trevor; and five great-grandchildren, Logan, Austin, Lucas, Reilly, and Madison.A Celebration of Life, 12:00PM - 5:00PM, December 7, 2019, will take place at their home in Colorado Springs, Colorado.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions in Chet's memory may be made to the Alzheimer's Association at act.alz.org or the American Heart Association at www.heart.org.