Recipes for Living Thomas Burton Andersen

My name is Thomas Burton Andersen; the Andersen spelled with an "e" because I have a Danish ancestry. My grandfather, Chris, came from Denmark when he was a boy, eight to ten years old, and settled in Pierce, Nebraska. He lived until I was 25, so I knew him well. My dad is Burton Harding Andersen. He was born in Pierce, Nebraska. My mother is Katherine Puschendorf Andersen. When I was born, my dad was a car salesman with Grandfather. At one point, my grandfather was the oldest Ford car dealer in the United States - possibly in the world. Dad moved our family to Fremont, Nebraska in 1958. He started working in a local grocery store, which didn't work out. He began working for the Post Office and retired from that employment when he was 62. Except for a few part-time jobs here and there, Mother was always a house wife.

I was born in Norfolk, Nebraska in 1950, and spent the first eight years of my life in Pierce, Nebraska. My two brothers, Roger and Glen, and we liked playing basketball, baseball, and football together. We were taught and had the example of hard-working people - our father was Danish, our mother German. We learned the Midwest work ethic.

After we moved to Fremont, Nebraska in 1958, I was a newspaper boy and one year was Newspaper Carrier of the Year in Fremont, Nebraska for the Fremont Guide and Tribune. The award was based on the quality of service and the number of subscribers. I had 70 customers. This was an afternoon paper printed Monday through Saturday, and during the summer I would pick up the papers and deliver them about two hours earlier than the other carriers. Customers appreciated that a lot.

I graduated cum laude from Fremont High School in 1968, and was a member of the National Honor Society. I lettered in wrestling my junior and senior years and was co-captain of my wrestling team in my senior year. Later that year, I went to South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota, where I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering, and a Masters in Science degree in Civil Engineering with a Sanitary Engineering emphasis.

I also got a commission from the Air Force in the Reserve Officers Training Corp, ROTC. This allowed me to get my college degree and take 16 credit hours of Reserve Officers Training schooling through the Air Force ROTC, and I went to a four week summer camp at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma in the summer of 1970.

I went to Moody Air Force Base by Valdosta, Georgia. I worked on the base. I was a nonrated officer, a 2nd Lieutenant, with a duty called a Base Civil Engineering Design Officer. My responsibility was to design projects. I was the base environmental protection coordinator and on the Disaster Services Committee. When they had a civil engineering design project I prepared plans and specifications for that. Occasionally I inspected it and wrote environmental assessments on other projects. I did that for four years and then got out of the Air Force in 1977 as a Captain.

I was in college from September of 1968 to October 1973, during which time I met my first wife, Susan Elizabeth Steers. We were married on June 5, 1971. While I was in the Air Force in Georgia, we had two children - Kristin Sue born in 1974, and Aimie Michelle in 1977. I was in the Air Force from October 1973 until September 1977, at which time I went to work for Fitzsimmons and Associates in Valdosta. They did consulting engineering, designed water distribution, treatment, and storage systems, and designed waste water collection, pumping and treatment systems. I got my professional engineering license while working for Fitzsimmons.

In September or October 1978, Fitzsimmons and Associates ran out of work for me, so I started applying for jobs in the mid-west. I went to work for Associated Engineers, Inc. of Fort Dodge in October 1978, as a Civil Engineering Design Consultant. I was promoted to Office Manager in 1980, and was moved to Cedar Rapids. I worked with them until 1983, when I went to work for Ament Engineering out of Hiawatha, Iowa, a suburb of Cedar Rapids. I worked with them until 1986, when I went to work for Snyder and Associates of Ankeny, Iowa. I commuted between Cedar Rapids and Ankeny for 10 months, and then became the Howard County Engineer in Cresco in 1987. During the time I was there, Susan and I were divorced on September 5, 1989.
I met and married Jeanne Marie Roeder of Cresco, Iowa on August 15, 1992. I remained in Howard County until the end of 1998, then became the Poweshiek County Engineer in Montezuma, Iowa. I lived in Grinnell. I left in March 2003, and came to Osceola as Clarke County Engineer in August 2003.

The County Engineer is responsible for maintaining, repairing, and resurfacing all the secondary roads in the County, which in Clarke County is about 700 miles. Clarke County was blessed with some extra money that the county had saved over the years from the local property tax and road use tax money. Since I have been here, we paved some roads that were rocked - H45 south of town, the quarry road, and resurfaced the airport road. We stay prepared for emergencies like flooding, in which case we shut roads down, repair them, and get them back into shape when the emergency is past. We now employ just over 20 people including myself - three in the office Cindy West, Rick Kloppenburg, and myself, about 19 people out in the shops, driving heavy equipment, dump trucks, and that sort of thing. We have benefitted from Pillars Grant money. It will help offset the county's $85,000 seal coat project for Woodburn, and it helped purchase two backhoes two years ago. I was quoted in the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune of February 16, 2006 saying, ''Pillars has been a blessing."

My work has taken me to lots of different communities and counties. I particularly enjoyed Fort Dodge, Cedar Rapids, and Cresco, where I still have a lot of family and friends because I am married to a Cresco, Howard County, girl. I truly enjoy Osceola people. I find them industrious and friendly. I have been affiliated with the United Methodist Church and regard the congregation as religious and good natured. The people are very uplifting. They have let me blossom here. My original family was Congregationalist. My first wife was Presbyterian, and when I lived in Cresco. I started going to the Methodist Church, as we did here and in Grinnell. I was largely encouraged by the Rev. Hugh Stone whom I met at my first Rotary meeting. He introduced himself and asked, "Why don't you come to our Wednesday night services?" So, while I was commuting from Grinnell, I began going to the services on Wednesday nights, and Hugh gave me opportunities to become more and more active. I like to participate in various activities. Mary Ellen Kimball and Ann Diehl got me involved in the Arts Council. They invited me to take part in the gala event at the boat just before Thanksgiving - The Festival of Wreaths, which featured local talent singing and dancing. People here have given me a chance to do things and I like to be active. I sing in the choir. I'm not a good singer, but I like to sing. It is the same with golf. I play golf although I am not a good golfer. I like exercising. I use the tread mill and dumbbells, do aerobics, and walk a little over an hour each day, which is about four miles. I am on the Main Street Osceola Committee and act as their secretary. Main Street Osceola is now attempting to merge with the Osceola Chamber of Commerce to form a new organization called the Osceola Chamber of Commerce: a Main Street Community. I also attend Legion meetings.

We have established a home here, at 607 Southview Drive. I commuted from Grinnell to Osceola from August 2003 to September 2004, when we sold our house in Grinnell. We bought our house and moved here on October 1, 2004. My youngest step-daughter, Rachael Roeder, was a senior in high school in Grinnell, and we didn't want to pull her out of high school her senior year, so I did the commuting. When I came here, I rented a basement apartment from Avis James. She is a wonderful person, my best friend in Osceola. I sometimes go to the Catholic church with her, and she comes to the Wednesday night services with me. We have a little card group with my wife, Avis, Erma Scritchfield, and Mike Boldon. We get together occasionally and play Mexican Rummy. It is an individual game in which the person with the least number of points wins.

Both Aimie and Kristin are now in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. My oldest daughter, Kristin, is a registered nurse at McKenna Hospital. She graduated magna cum laude from Augustana College last year (2005). My youngest daughter is a nurse's aide in the same hospital. I have four step-children, the oldest is Lori Reinking. She lives in Howard County and works at Donaldson's in Cresco. My older step-son is Eric Roeder, and he works for Wells Fargo Bank in Des Moines. My younger step-son is Brian Roeder. At this time he is getting his Masters degree at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri. My youngest step-daughter Rachael is now in her sophomore year at Iowa State University in Ames. I have four grandchildren and four step grandchildren. I have lots of family and I love them a lot.

I've had a pretty uneventful life, but there were some pivotal moments. When I was a junior in high school, I considered joining the Army. My school guidance counselor and my parents talked me out of that. Instead I went to college, which was quite an event and shifted my life a lot. The biggest influence in my life is that I have tried to lead a God-centered life. Putting God first and letting Him chart the course is the best thing anybody can do for their life.