William Marvin Andersen

William ("Bill") Marvin Andersen, 4/13/1959 - 10/31/2025

Surrounded by his loving family at his farm in Phoenixville, PA, Bill passed away after a brave battle against a long neurodegenerative illness on October 31, 2025.

Bill was born in Wilmington, Delaware on April 13, 1959 to Drs. Marvin V. Andersen and Kathryn S. Andersen. He spent childhood summers on the family's Thornbury Farm, where he developed a love of agriculture and an appreciation for land preservation. He graduated from Brandywine High School in 1977, received a BSE in Geologic Engineering from Princeton University in 1981, and an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1983. It was during his senior year of college that he met his future wife, Elizabeth (Liz) Dibble, at geology field camp in Redlodge, Montana, and with whom he shared his greatest passions throughout the rest of his life.

Bill and Liz purchased Broadwater Farm in Phoenixville, PA in 1990 which became the foundation for his many pursuits, including raising their four children, renovating a historic home, farming, and preserving land for future generations, and for his enormous contributions to the local community. The original farmhouse was in ill repair, just the kind of impossible project Bill loved. With his pied piper enthusiasm, boundless energy, and ability to see potential where others did not, he enlisted help from family and friends to restore the entire house, including installing new oak and cherry floors milled from trees on the farm. He also built a state-of-the-art wood shop, where he made the vast majority of the furniture in their family home.

Not only did Bill renovate the house, but he also restored the land. He rejuvenated and expanded the farm's old orchard, planting some one hundred apple, pear, cherry and peach trees with an emphasis on heirloom varieties, in addition to small fruits for both children and grandchildren to enjoy. He cleared pastures for sheep and cattle, while also planting many trees, both rare and native. He was a keen gardener, growing produce to enjoy throughout the summer, and planting several acres of sweet corn every year. Indeed, it was growing and selling sweet corn during his high school years on Thornbury Farm that instilled in him his entrepreneurial spirit, earned him his first car, and gave him his college nickname, "Corn."

Broadwater Farm became a gathering place, and Bill was the consummate host. He welcomed every guest with warm hospitality. Weekly intergenerational dinners were the norm. He was a stickler for manners, making sure children looked him in the eye, always with a sense of humor. His quick wit and deadpan delivery brightened every gathering.

Family trips taken as a child gave Bill a love of travelling. He carried on this tradition by organizing many treasured family ski and hiking trips, as well as island trips which included grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. These are the source of many happy family memories.

With a deep-seated commitment to the preservation of land in Charlestown Township, and also to family, Bill helped his parents purchase Charlestown Farm as a place to retire near the family. He decided that the land should serve its neighbors, so he created a 150-family community-supported farm there which operated from 2002 to 2023. He led the implementation of sustainable farming practices there to improve the land and to produce healthy food.

Bill was also committed to seeing the success of the town of Phoenixville. He and Liz started the Phoenixville Farmers' Market in 2002, which continues to thrive. As a board member of the Colonial Theatre, Bill helped lead efforts to purchase and preserve the Bank Building, a key part of the Theatre's expansion and secure future.

A career in real estate development enabled Bill to pursue many of his passions on a professional level as well. As a founding partner and the tireless president of Longview Property Group, Bill relished the complex process of purchasing land, working with a team to get approvals, and seeing projects to fruition through the construction, financing and management process. He oversaw the creation of numerous commercial retail and residential developments in the Philadelphia area, always with the goal of long term investment and value creation.

While Bill's life was shortened by illness, he passed on his love of family, community, the environment, farming, entrepreneurship, and woodworking to his children and their children.

Bill is survived by his loving wife Elizabeth D. Andersen, mother Kathryn S. Andersen, siblings Drs. James S. Andersen, Donald H. Andersen, and Sarah Andersen Willig, as well as his children Kathryn D. A. Keating (Jared), Charles H. Andersen (Kathleen), Arnold F. Andersen (Nicole), Eleanor C. A. MacGibbon (Douglas), and grandchildren Georgina S. Keating, Frederica K. Keating, Magnus A. Keating, Sebastian K. Andersen-Soegaard, and Frederick J. MacGibbon.

All are invited to his Memorial Service at 11am, April 11, 2026 at St. Peter's Church in the Great Valley, 2475 St. Peter's Road, Malvern, PA 19355.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Natural Lands Trust or The Colonial Theatre.