Stephen Todd Anderson

Stephen Todd Anderson, born in New York City in 1939, died peacefully in Niantic, CT on August 26, 2019, of a brain tumor. 

Steve graduated with honors from Milton Academy and Yale College. Although a gifted writer, he found his voice in music, earning a masters in music theory from Yale School of Music, and a diploma in piano performance from Manhattan School of Music.   An Episcopal church music director for almost five decades, he held leadership positions at Emmanuel Church (Weston, CT), St. Philip’s in the Hills (Tucson, AZ), St. Columba (Washington, DC), Christ Church (New Bern, NC), and St. James (New London, CT). He performed significant choral and organ works in classical, gospel, and jazz genres.  He composed original choral works “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” and “Four Angels,” in addition to numerous choral arrangements. 

Steve was loved and respected for his humor, kindness, and improvisational skills.  He gave scores of unsuspecting children a solid musical foundation by making it fun. He proudly wore silly ties and posted irreverent jokes on the choir room door. Even decades later, parishioners fondly remember his sly improvisations on “The Rainbow Connection (for Jim Henson), “Getting to Know You” (for new members), and “Here Comes Peter Cottontail” at Easter. For family occasions he composed light-hearted odes such as “Eight Times Eight is Sixty-Four which Rhymes with Dante Salvatore.”  He overcame a speech impairment well enough to give speeches at concerts, teach high school classes, and tell funny stories at potlucks.

A gifted, lifelong tennis player, Steve was captain of the tennis team his senior year at Yale.  His serve had a wicked spin, and he often outwitted more powerful opponents with strategy. 

Steve is survived by his wife of 57 years, artist Patricia Potter Anderson, daughter Priscilla Reynolds Anderson, son Nicholas Dean Anderson, granddaughter Dora Anderson Capobianco, grandson August Wyatt Anderson, and niece Helen Anderson Phinney.

A memorial service will be held at St. James Episcopal Church at 76 Federal Street, New London, CT 06320 on Sunday, September 29, 2019 at 1:00 pm. Private burial with his parents, Merrill and Dorothy Reynolds Anderson, will be at North Cemetery in Sherman, Connecticut. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be directed to St. James Music Fund “Music on Whale Oil Row” (http://www.stjamesnl.org/whale-oil-row) or Avalonia Land Conservancy (https://avalonia.org or P.O. Box 49, Old Mystic, CT 06372).