Reverend Robert E. "Bro. Bob" Anderson

Reverend Robert E. "Bro. Bob" Anderson, founder of Louisiana's largest private school, Parkview Baptist School, and longtime pastor of Parkview Baptist Church, peacefully entered heaven on December 13, 2018. He was 84. From 1974 to 1996, he built Parkview Baptist from 1,000 to 5,000 members and in 1981 established the accredited Christian Parkview Baptist School. Bro. Bob met everyone with a warm smile, a kind heart, and loving words to heal broken relationships. He was present for the joys of marriage and birth, and the grief of death. He sincerely listened. Church work is among the most emotional and difficult but for 22 years he bridged troubled waters at Parkview to draw in hundreds of families seeking a home. "You're either entering a storm, in a storm, or coming out of a storm" was a common theme of Bob Anderson. "But there is no storm you can't weather with the loving Savior Jesus." Religion was not a crutch to Bob Anderson but an opportunity to reach potential. He was never rattled by trouble or jealousy. As a result, Parkview Baptist School has graduated thousands in faith, accomplishing academic and athletic titles almost every year for three decades. After he was born on April 29, 1934, in Shreveport, his mother Edith died of tuberculosis just eleven months later. Bob and his brothers were taken in by his paternal, Godly grandmother. When he was 17 in 1951, Bob went with his Fair Park High football team to hear a young evangelist named Billy Graham. "I went forward and gave my heart to Christ," he said later. "Jesus became very real to me." So real, in fact, he answered the call to become a minister. His team won the state championship the next year. This began a life of winning from winning the heart of his high school sweetheart, Rochelle Reeves, whom he married on April 10, 1955, to winning thousands of souls in numerous churches across Louisiana and Texas. He attracted others with humility and humor. He and Rochelle began their family with Robert, Susan and Janet. In 1957, Bob graduated East Texas Baptist University and received his Masters of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, later taking post-graduate psychology at Louisiana State University. In 1987, Florida's prestigious International Bible Institute honored Bob with a Doctor of Divinity degree. In 1953, Lone Oak Baptist in Harleton, Texas, became his first pastorate, then Parkhurst Baptist in Shreveport, an associate at Ingleside Baptist, Dixie Heights Baptist in Ft. Worth, and Ford Park Baptist in Shreveport though the turbulent 1960s. In 1969, the Louisiana Moral and Civic Foundation brought Bob, Rochelle, Robert, Susan and Janet to Baton Rouge as Associate Executive Director for youth evangelism. Amid Vietnam, gas lines, and the first resignation of a U.S. president, on October 15, 1974, Rev. Bob Anderson gave his first sermon as Parkview Baptist's eighth pastor. With exploding growth came a burgeoning Sunday School which created the need for classrooms. Bob thought it a waste to use classrooms one day a week and convinced a reluctant church governing board to establish a full-time Parkview Baptist School. In 1996, the Southern Baptist Convention elected him First Vice President as a peacemaker during doctrinal turmoil and strife. In 1997, Louisiana Baptists likewise elected him president. Bob was elected unanimously. Bob's gift of listening healed an entire convention, reminding everyone that the church could only succeed by letting the love of Christ prevail. "Love the things Jesus loved," he said, "the Father, prayer, teaching, the church and the Lost." Christ drew Bob forward in the same way fire preceded Moses. Bob Anderson started out with adversity so he wasn't surprised by it. He quickly found answers, not excuses. He would serve on many boards, including that of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. In his last years, Bro. Bob founded "Antioch Affection Ministries" to help failed ministers get back on their feet and to embrace their disillusioned families. Bob Anderson helped salvage many pastors and many congregations simply by practicing what Christ admonished in the first place: love one another. In essence, one sermon on one night by a dairy farm boy named Billy Graham changed the course of a high school football linebacker in Shreveport who then changed the courses of thousands of lives and still does through Parkview Baptist School. Bob did all this through sheer belief and love for others. He wasted no time on material wealth. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Rochelle Reeves Anderson; one son, Robert Anderson, Jr., and two daughters, Susan Anderson McKey and Janet Anderson Blankenship and husband Rev. Dane Blankenship; a brother, Larry Anderson and wife Helen; and nine grandchildren, Julie, Matthew, and Melissa McKey; Bobby, Reeves, Sawyer, Carlee, Preslee, and Allie Blankenship. Bro. Bob Anderson was preceded in death by his father and mother, Alvin and Edith Anderson; brothers Alvin Jr. and Billy Anderson; and mother- and father-in-law, Jewel and Russell Reeves of Shreveport. Visitation will be Sunday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. at Parkview Baptist Church (11795 Jefferson Highway, BR 70816) followed by services at 2:30 p.m. By way of video, Bro. Bob Anderson will preach his own service as a last sermon in his beloved church. The sermon is aptly titled, "Finishing Well." Honorary pallbearers are Dr. Michael Girouard, Dr. Bob Peden, and Mr. Jim Rawlins. Officiating are Rep. Rick Edmonds and author Leo Honeycutt. Interment follows at Resthaven Garden of Memory. Donations may be made to the Bro. Bob Anderson Scholarship Fund at Parkview Baptist School. Bob always hoped that young recipients would be inspired to someday pay it forward for others. Donations can also be made to Antioch Affection Ministries.