Jim Anderson was born on September 1, 1946, and changed his address to heaven on June 11th, 2024. Jim and his siblings Sandy Anderson, Martha Geiger, and Harry Anderson were born to Leon and Sibyl Anderson. Leon and Sibyl found great joy in walking out their faith alongside their children. Jim developed strong calves and a wiry frame working on his relative's ranch and maintaining an active lifestyle. His resourceful parents, both physicians, supported the development of his MacGyver like skills, and with the help of his father, he acquired his pilot's license by the age of 15.
Jim proudly served his country in Japan, Korea, and Lackland AFB in Texas, and remained a faithful and exuberant patriot throughout his life. He attended Oklahoma University and, like his parents, he developed a deep compassion for people suffering with poor health. Jim married the love of his life, Mary Shoemaker, on June 4th, 1971. Mary and Jim shared a love for nursing, and both became registered nurses. In addition to working at every hospital in Tulsa, Jim was a thrill seeker and outdoorsman. He was known to ride his motorcycle through snowstorms, and make his own fireworks displays. Jim and Mary had two energetic and adventurous children, Gwynne, and Jamie, and raised them to love the Lord, love their family, and to serve others. Later in life, Jim merged his love for the outdoors and working with family to join his son, Jamie, in a pond and landscaping business. He was strong and spry and could outwork crews half his age. He was generous with his time and talents. His compassion for people led him to take down trees and mow lawns for free if someone was going through a difficult season.
Jim was a bald eagle wall art collector and was looking forward to successfully navigating an apocalypse. In addition to being prepared for anything, Jim and his wife Mary loved to enjoy music together. They attended the theater, musical productions and sang together in choirs throughout their married life. Jim loved spending time with his lovely wife, children, and extensive family on the Illinois river every 4th of July. He taught grandkids to fish, made the best homemade ice cream, and to our delight, continued to develop his aspiring pyrotechnic skills. We only debated calling the fire department a few times.
Because of his many talents, and incredible patience, he was an excellent mentor to many. He could always be counted on to help fix broken things or build new things. Jim was always active in church service. He was serving as deacon for Tulsa Bible Church and singing bass with Tulsa Praise Orchestra up until his final weeks on this earth. The work of Christ was evident in His life, and he lived with an undying gratefulness for what the Lord did for him. This dedication resulted in an overflowing of the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Well, he was pretty feisty when he had his mind made up about something and loved his doggie bags, so he was still working on the self-control part... but the rest of the fruits are verifiable!
Jim was preceded in death by his parents, Leon and Sybil Anderson, and he is survived by his beloved wife Mary Anderson, son Jamie Anderson and wife, Lori, of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, daughter Gwynne Blakey and husband, Ben, also of Broken Arrow, his "adopted" daughter Amanda Hancock and husband, Jeremy, of Tulsa, and cherished grandchildren: Alyssa Anderson, Cody Earl, Emma, Jacob and Sarah Gollahon, Maya and Norah Anderson, Eli and Micah Hancock, sisters Sandy Anderson and husband, Bob, of Manhattan, Kansas, Martha Geiger and husband Doc, of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, and brother Harry Anderson of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Jim has an extensive family and many friends he met along the way. He was a beloved husband, son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, nephew, and friend.
In lieu of flowers, your donations can be gifted to an organization he deeply loved, the Tulsa Praise Orchestra.