Richard Alfred Anderson

Richard Alfred Anderson, 80, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, passed away peacefully at home with his loving wife of 50 years by his side on the morning of Tuesday, June 3, 2025.

Visitation will be held from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at Memorial Services of Iowa (4208 N. Ankeny Blvd). A funeral sevice to celebrate his life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 10, 2025, also at the funeral home, with burial to follow at Ankeny Memorial Gardens. Food and Fellowship will follow at Autumn Ridge (2050 Four Seasons Dr.), Ankeny, IA to visit with family. The funeral service will be live streamed at the following link: https://vimeo.com/event/5179109

Richard was born July 16, 1944, in Tacoma, Washington, to Albert and Lorena Anderson.

(Extra bonus by his side to share the birth date with his TWIN brother, Raymond Anderson.)

After moving to Iowa as a child, living close to grandparents family farm, he later moved back to Washington to attend and graduate high school in Tacoma in 1963.

He was drafted into the US Army in 1965 and served his country proudly during Vietnam, stationed in South Korea. He received the Good Conduct Medal in 1967.

He returned to Ankeny where he worked as an electrician in Des Moines. (He told many stories of houses everywhere where he worked.) He loved being an electrician.

Richard saw Marilyn at church one day and asked the pastor who she was. The pastor introduced them and they fell in love. They were married August 30, 1975, in Ankeny, IA, and were blessed with two girls, Teresa and Christy, and two boys, Martin and Michael.

He worked many years as an electrician in Iowa, Virginia, Texas, Oklahoma, and back to Iowa to work in maintenance for the Ankeny Community Schools and Camp Dodge. Richard and Marilyn returned to Oklahoma in 2011, and he retired in 2012.

Richard loved his WHOLE family. He was extremely proud of his family, and raising them was the best part of him. He always made things special and celebrated all the accomplishments in each one of his children's and grandchildren's journey in life. He was a hard worker, but he loved time spent with his family: going on vacations, camping trips over the years, cooking over the campfire, and especially one camping trip where he slept in a Teepee tent in Montana and saw a million stars at night! Marilyn and he loved going to Hawaii to celebrate several anniversaries. He also enjoyed buying lottery tickets to get those lucky numbers, and going to the casino. He also loved boxing.

Richard is survived by his wife, Marilyn; daughters, Teresa (Matt), and Christy (Ron); sons, Martin (Sonia), and Michael (Cassandra); eight grandchildren that he loved so very much, Tristan, Karlye, Sofia, Benjamin, Daniel, Liam, Eli and Leo (twin boys); sister, Beverly Mitchell; sister-in-law, Eileen Anderson; and many beloved nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Albert and Lorena (Fischer) Anderson; sisters, Alice (George) Rosenoff, Carolyn (Jim) Riley, and Mary Meador; parents-in-law, Edwin and Joanne Everly; grandson, Kale Anderson; and his twin brother, Raymond Anderson.

The family wishes to thank everyone who helped Marilyn care for Richard at home, and the loving people in Oklahoma who were by his side every day.