Floyd VanWert Anderson

Floyd V. Anderson 95, of Milledgeville, GA passed away at home on December 14, 2022 amongst family. Funeral services will be at Williams Memorial Chapel on December 28, 2022 at 11:00. Family will receive friends from 10 until the Funeral hour. He was born on August 27, 1927 in Port Allegheny, PA to Ernest R. Anderson Sr. and Amelia Van Wert and grew up in Titusville, PA. He joined the U.S. Navy out of high school and served in the South Pacific Theatre during WWII, until his honorable discharge after the war in 1946 and truly was a member of “The Greatest Generation”. Following his military service and the return to his home state of Pennsylvania, he attended and graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, having earned his BS degree in Education. His academic career began at Northside High School in Atlanta, GA, in the early 1950’s , where he taught classes and coached 2 GA State Championship Girls’ Basketball Teams , 1 GA State Champ Track Team and he also served as an assistant football coach. While teaching and coaching at the high school level, he attended Geo. Peabody College (now Vanderbilt University) during the summers and earned a Masters of Education degree. His first collegiate teaching/coaching position in the mid 1950’s took he and his young family to Montevallo, AL and Alabama College (now- University of Montevallo), where he continued to teach and successfully coached men’s tennis and Cross-Country track and field. His 1966 men’s tennis team remains the only undefeated athletic team in the school’s history and was inducted into the university’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013. Following Alabama College, he was recruited to Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts in Chickasha, OK in 1966 to both teach and establish an athletic program for the newly turned “Co-ed” college. He served as a teaching professor, Dept. Chair, and the Athletic Director. In 1967, fate brought him back to Georgia, and Georgia College (Milledgeville) He served as the Chairman Health, Physical Education, and Recreation Department and the first Athletic Director, establishing the first men’s and women’s athletic program, as the Colonials which preceded the Bobcats. His tenure at GC & SU spanned from 1967 - 1989 in teaching, coaching, and administration. During this time, he was responsible for the hiring and mentoring of 4 GC & SU Hall of Fame Coaches (Stan Aldridge, Mike Peeler, Geza Martini, John Kurtz) and was an “influential and active” force behind the establishment of GCSU’s East & West campus complexes and related facilities. He is often referred by those who know/knew him as the “Father of Athletics” at GC & SU. His first Baseball Team aka “The Boys of ‘69” have consistently held annual reunions in Milledgeville to stay connected, celebrate, and remember those early days. Floyd Anderson retired from GC & SU in 1989 and was awarded “Professor-Emeritus” status by Georgia’s Board of Regents. He was inducted into the GC & SU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2017. One of his noteworthy accomplishments related to education was “in, of, and for” the “out- of - doors”. He was the founder of the GC Outdoor Education Institute (Lake Laurel based), the ensuing Outdoor Education academic program, and was an active member of the National Outdoor Education Project founded and based at Michigan State University. He also pursued additional degree work (towards a Ph.D.) at Michigan State University while teaching Outdoor Education classes at the National level in summer sessions. Another long-time passion was his work with white oak baskets, starting with an apprenticeship with his early mentor/friend, and long- time Baldwin County GA resident Joe Dennis, that began in the mid 1970’s. Their relationship blossomed over the years and following Mr. Dennis’ passing 1982, eventually culminated in Floyd being selected as a Master Craftsman by the GA Council for the Arts. He was an original member of the Great Lakes Heritage of Basketry Project. Examples of his art/craft are on permanent exhibit and housed at the Association of Michigan Basket Makers Guild at Michigan State University. He always credited Joe Dennis’s teaching style and patience, with enabling his success in “weaving the white oak”. Floyd and his wife Melissa, also an avid and accomplished Basket Maker, were very active throughout the USA and Canada in “weaving the white oak” via teaching, mentoring, and demonstrating this disappearing art form for some 40+ years together. Floyd Anderson was preceded in death by his parents, his siblings Gertrude Marshall, Earnest R. Anderson, Jr., Nancy Anderson, and his first wife Lee Anderson. He is survived by his wife Melissa (Campbell) Anderson, sons Blake (Paula)and Blaine (MaryEllen) Anderson, Grand Daughter Sarah Beth (James) McMillan, Grandson Brannon Anderson, and Great Grand Children (J.D. and Madeline McMillan), and friends of which there are too many to list. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, donation be made to: GCSU Athletic Endowment at http://alumni.gcsu.edu/FloydAnderson or by mail to GCSU Athletic Endowment, University Advancement 410 Green St. CBX 96 Milledgeville, GA 31061

Floyd VanWert Anderson

August 27, 1927 - December 14, 2022