Remembering my beloved grandmother, who died this week. – kag
Nancy McLean Orr Anderson, age 92, died peacefully at her home in Bell Buckle, TN on November 4, 2010, with her three children and many grandchildren by her side.
Mrs. Anderson was born on October 4, 1918, at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland where her father was stationed near the close of World War I. She spent much of her youth on her family’s farm in Mooresville (Marshall County), Tennessee, where her family had settled shortly after the Revolutionary War. She spent her adolescence in Nashville, attending Peabody Demonstration and Ward Belmont Schools there, and enjoying a lively social life. Upon graduation from high school, she enrolled at the University of Alabama, where she pledged Chi Omega.
However, to her parents’ dismay, the young Miss Orr soon realized that her true passion was for journalism. She transferred to the University of Missouri, receiving her degree in 1939 from what was the first professional journalism school in the United States.
Upon graduation, she accepted employment as a newspaper reporter with the Daily Independent in Kannapolis, North Carolina. While living there, also to her parents’ dismay, she fell in love with and married Ray Steven Anderson, a local airplane pilot, stunt skydiver, motorcycle enthusiast, and hot-air balloonist whom she had met only a few weeks before they eloped. She and Mr. Anderson were married for 68 years, until his death in 2007.
Mrs. Anderson’s career progressed quickly, notwithstanding her gender. She worked as a writer and editor for several newspapers in the Southeast, including the Birmingham Post, before moving to Los Angeles in the 1950s with her husband and three young children. While in California, she worked as a reporter for the South Bay Daily Breeze, among other publications, before accepting a position with Photoplay Magazine as West Coast Editor.
In her role as Photoplay Editor, Mrs. Anderson became a Hollywood fixture and, as a result, developed friendships with fascinating characters like John Wayne, Walt Disney and Elvis Presley (for whom she baked chess pies, since they were both from Tennessee). During the 50s, 60s and 70s, her interview subjects included Ronald Reagan, Harry Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Bob Hope, Ferdinand Marcos, “Baby Doc” Duvalier, Imelda Marcos, the Shah of Iran, Julia Roberts, Warren Beatty, Dustin Hoffman, Sammy Davis, Jr. Robin Williams, Gene Kelley, Julie Andrews, Laurence Olivier, Bette Davis, Jack Nicholson, Frank Sinatra, and many other entertainment and political celebrities. Following her retirement from Photoplay, Mrs. Anderson went on for many years to write a weekly entertainment column for Copley News Service, and her interviews and profiles continued to be featured in a number of national magazines.
Mrs. Anderson is predeceased by her parents, Jones and Virginia McLean Orr and her brother Jack Orr, as well as by two of her great grandchildren, Ward Anderson and Henry Granju. She is survived by her sister, Mrs. George Terry of Nesbitt, Mississippi, her children, Mr. and Mrs. Roger Anderson of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Susan Anderson Allison of Smithville, Tennessee and John Anderson of Bell Buckle, Tennessee. She is also survived by her seven grandchildren: Paige Anderson Hickernell, Katie Allison Granju, Elizabeth Anderson Renneisen, Betsy Allison Tant, Robert Allison, James Anderson and Thomas Anderson, and by her sixteen great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild: Jessica Rhoades Gee, Morgan Rhodes, Jane Granju, Elliot Granju, Gray Anderson, Jack Anderson, Eleanor Tant, Jones Allison, Anna Allison, McLean Tant, Helen Allison, Nicholas Allison, Nancy Tant, Charlotte Hickman, Leo Anderson, Georgia Hickman and Hannah Rhoades.
Mrs. Anderson was an amazing, loving, brilliant woman with impeccable manners and a generous heart. She was a devoted Christian, and an active member of many clubs and organizations, including Daughters of the American Revolution and the Shelbyville Garden Club. She made wonderful blackberry cobbler, and she gifted her grandchildren and great grandchildren with a love of history, poetry and political discourse.
A memorial service will be held at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 27, 2010 at Bell Buckle United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorial donations be made to:
Henry’s Fund
c/o The East Tennessee Foundation
625 Market Street, Suite 1400
Knoxville, TN 37902
www.henrygranju.org
While living there, also to her parents’ dismay, she fell in love with and married Ray Steven Anderson – that's funny!
Immpecible manners – I like that!
What a woman. I am sorry for your family's loss.
Katie
It sounds like your grandmother was a steel magnolia – she packed a lot of experiences into to her life and has left great memories behind for you all.
My condolences.
Beautifully written and telling of the remarkable life she lived. So sorry for your loss. Prayers for all of you!
Wow, what a woman!
Wishing peace to all who loved her.
Beautiful work. I love a well-written obituary. Always makes me feel sorry I did not have the opportunity to the know the person.
Your grandmother was born the same year as mine, and I was also the first grandchild. It was an honor and a comfort for me to write my grandmother's obituary almost three years ago. I hope it was comforting to you as well.
Beautiful.
Quite an obituary! Wonderful that a marriage with only the briefest of courtships lasted life-long. I know I would have loved her. Again, Katie, I'm sorry for your grief.
She sounds amazing! Wish I had a chance to meet her. Would love to read more about her!
That is spectacular. What a recounting and a list of a full life. My deepest sympathies to you and your family, and may you find joy and comfort in remembering this remarkable woman.
Katie: What a life she lead and a legacy she left. My thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
I am sorry for your loss. What a wonderful gift, such a packed, full life she had.
And now she is holding Henry.
Your grandmother sounds like an amazing woman!! Out of curiosity was she active in Chi Omega after she graduated college?? I only ask in that I am an alumna of Chi Omega.
I think you have a lot in common with your beloved grandmother. Sounds like she lived a rich and wonderful life, I'm sure with its trials and pains also. Imagine the welcome Henry has given her – something I know she was sure of!
Because it's so beautifully written, you have all reasonably assume that this was Katie's work. It was actually our brother who wrote this perfect obituary. Thank you Robert, it's beautiful. I love you.
I am sorry for your loss and what a loss your grandmother is. Thank the gods that you had her for so long – what a great broad!!
It was a brother/sister effort. Robert stayed up most of the night writing it and Katie used her incredible golden touch to make it perfect.
She remained active in Chi Omega. It was one of her passions, but slightly below University of Alabama football. She loved watching games and cheering on her team.
I want to hear more about her! You should write a book, she sounds fascinating! You were blessed to have her.
No one writes an obituary better than a Southerner.
My condolences on the passing of your grandmother. Grandparents really are treasures.
Jenny
What is it about grandmothers that is so strong, magical, amazing? Mine, too, was exceptional in so many ways, particularly for her generation.
Condolences to your family. It's been a rough year.
Beautifully written! Sounds like she led an amazing life
Glad she was able to share it with all of her family. My condolences to you all.
Aimee V
My condolences to you and your family.
The more stories I read about your grandmother, the more amazed by her I am… Just read about her special relationship with Elvis, and how she mailed him a box of autumn leaves from Graceland. She was an amazingly cool lady, as well as a great inspiration, and I would love reading more of her stories.
Amazing woman, amazing life! I too feel I would have loved to know her, I'm glad I could read about her in your blog. (And yes, book please, about her!
You are lucky to have had her so long. Sorry she is gone…
@ Eliza: Well said, there is something about grandmothers! Mine is a very simple, working class woman who had a hard life, never adventorous, never unique, just everyday simple, hard life. Still…. I feel that there is something strong, amazing, and special in her, even if just in her ways of cooking and knitting and just being there (for me) all my life.
Wonderful to read about such an amazing woman! So sorry for your loss.
She watched the Kennedy funeral with Ronald and Nancy Reagan at their home.
Wow, what an incredible lady! I hope I have the chance to meet her in the afterlife!
I'm so sorry for your loss, and so glad that you had your grandmother for so long.
Beautiful, Katie. What an amazing woman! I'm very sorry for your loss.
In addition to everything that's been said, one *more* reason I personally love this obit is that, while I knew you were Southern, I didn't realize just how MUCH we come from The Same People. I'd send you a casserole if I thought it would keep. God bless.