Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1920-04-27
A MEMORIAL ON THE
DEATH OF WILLIAM
N. ANDERSON

At meeting of the directors of the
Anderson Brothers & Johnson COM
pany, held March 9th, 1920, the fol-
lowing memorial upon the life OF WI
liam n. Anderson, for many years the
company's manager, was presented by
Orlaf Anderson, one of the stockhold-
ers, and ordered set out in full on the
minutes of the company's meetings,
published in the local newspapers and
copies thereof furnished to the widow
and near relatives of the deceased:
William n. Anderson was born in
Borgwik, Sweden, fifty-one (51) years
ago. He came to this country in 1890
and Immediately engaged in learning
the granite cutting trade as appren-
tice, at Granite Heights, Wisconsin.
In 1895 he, together with his brother,
Gustave Anderson, Charles Johnson
and other. associates, engaged in the
| business of building monuments. at
Granite Heights, Wisconsin, where the
foundation was laid for the Anderson
Brothers q Johnson company which
| was later organized and has, within
the past years, been removed to the
city of Wausau where it is now in ac-
| tive operation. It's products are
shipped to every state in the union
| and the institution is itself a monu-
| ment to Mr.. Anderson's business
| acumen.
In 1910, Mr.. Anderson was married
| to- Ellen Magnuson. to whom were
born four children, two of whom, Lii
liam and Mildred, are now living.
Mr.. Anderson's life is an example
of what can be accomplished on Amer
| ica's free soil by the emigrant trans
| planted here with many handicaps.
! but with a determination to succeed.
! The large and successful business of
| the granite company is a testimonial
| to his success and is an encourage
ment to those in like circumstances
who have a purpose to succeed. Mr..
| AnderSOn'S success was not a freak
| OF fortune, but was the logical result
| Of persistent organized effort and I'M
| faltering determination to succeed in
the face of many disbursements.
| He met the Spartan requirements of
Kiplin's Queried test for manhood:
"If you can force your heart and
nerve and sinew
ITO serve your turn long after they
are gone,
And so hold on when there is moth
! ing in you
Except the Will which says to them
Hold on"
While he worked untiringly during
the formative period of the company's
development and met with all the
obstacles and disappointments that
come to men engaged in the building
OF business, he did not commit the
error OF Impotence, but comprehend
j ed that it takes time and unstinted
effort to lay a foundation that will en-
dure. He knew that THE kiln must
be fired before the vase is glazed, and
the Acropolis was not crowned with
marble in a day"
But above all his qualities of per-
sistence and determination there pre-
dominated a spirit of fairness and
generosity so astounding in its per-
lection that it continually challenged
attentlon-it was part of the man
1t cropped out lin his dealings every
where, and would not be denied 1t
was no puny impulse to be set aside
by business principle" but it was a
persistent sturdy spirit that was as
unyielding as the granite blocks
among which his days were cast.
Give to him that asketh thee. and
from him that would borrow of thee,
turn not thou away" were not idle
words to him but a sacred command
gladly obeyed, fact to which many
will gladly subscribe and there can
be no doubt that of him. as of Ben
Adhem, the angel has written the all
sufficient words that he was lone
| who loved hiC fn11Ow man
Mr.. Anderson left his work un-
finished. He was torn from his fam
lily and associates in the midst of a
busy useful life-in the prime of his
manhood and in the zenith Of bust
ness career completely successful. He
had not reached that retrospective
period in life when men look back
with reminiscent eyes and view their
failures with bitterness and their
successes with pride and satisfaction
for these are in every useful life
mingled as the smoke and the flame
but he was rather in that period OF
life when it was his pleasure to push
forward with undated vigor, striving
to excel the past and thinking only
of new accomplishments and the con-
Summation of his careful plans.
Death comes to all of us, but in.
stinctly we cry out against its un-
timely intrusion. We are loath tC
go at any time, but at such unexpec.
ted times we shrink from it's sum
mons. Not so with our departed friend
When he knew his work was over, his
career at an end, he set about putting
his affairs in order and then, with
calm surrender to his Maker, he sig.
, | njfinH 10 Ancirn -
; Divide. For him too was written the
= Requiem of Robert Louis Stevenson
! engraved on the tombstone in the
) South Seas:
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did 1 live and gladly die,
And 1 laid me down with a will.
This be the verse We gave for me-.