Michael Lee Anderson, 61, was born Aug. 25, 1957, in Rolla, Mo., to Charles G. and Ilene (Packheiser) Anderson. He passed away Dec. 14, 2018, at home in Huggins, Mo.
He was preceded in death by his father, Charles G. Anderson. Mike is survived by his wife, Julie K. Anderson of the home; his daughter, Autumn Movinsky-Anderson of Georgia; a stepdaughter, Ashley (Fritz) Snyder of San Diego, Calif.; his mother, Ilene Anderson Todd of Columbia, Mo.; a sister, Debra Potthast and husband, David, of Columbia, Mo.; and a brother, Charles D. Anderson and wife, Debi, of Jacksonville, Fla.
Mike grew up in Columbia and graduated from Rock Bridge High School in 1975. He served in the United States Marines from 1982-1986, Mike was an MP at Quantico. He was very patriotic and loved his country.
Mike’s first marriage was to Margaret Movinsky; they married Oct. 20, 1984, at Manassas, Va., and divorced in 2001. They had one daughter, Autumn.
Autumn and Mike spent many years hiking nature trails and exploring caves from when Autumn was still being carried in a backpack to her adult life.
Mike met Julie DiVona on Jan. 24, 2004, in Rolla, Mo. They were soulmates from that first night when they talked for over five hours until both the restaurant and their bar closed. Mike and Julie married June 12, 2005, at Wenwood Farm Winery in Bland, Mo. They had no children together but he loved Ashley like his own. They did have puppy grandchildren together raising several litters of Alaskan malamute pups more than 10 years. He loved his malamutes and loved the breed for many, many years after finding two lost malamutes in his early thirties. Actually, he had a love for all animals and took in many rescues in his lifetime.
While he worked at several lumberyards at different times in his lifetime, his true passion was smoked meats. They started Mike and Julie’s Smoked Meats in 2014. Mike loved to hear the amazing things that people would say about their food and sauces and enjoyed coming up with new ideas of things to sell from the food trailer. He loved to cook and always wished he had gone to formal culinary school sometime during his life. He also loved to bake bread which he learned from his 4H leader, Mrs. Gore, as a kid.
He loved to travel and, particularly, to visit wineries and breweries wherever they went, not just to sample their wares, but to take in the atmosphere, ambiance and the architecture of the places. Mike also met many friends at the breweries, particularly Piney River Brewery where they sold food from their trailer several times during the year.
Other hobbies included wood working and crafting and love for football, particularly the Dallas Cowboys. He loved fast cars and, in particular, old Ford Mustangs and had more than one in his lifetime.
Mike was a friend to everyone he met. He was a wonderful husband, father, son and brother and truly a good person who enjoyed life. While not incredibly open with his relationship with God, he did believe and hoped that he would make it to heaven one day to see all those that passed before him. He will be missed by all who knew and loved him.
A celebration of life with military honors is 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2018, at Evans Funeral Home with Michael Marah officiating. Cremation was under the direction of Evans Funeral Home. Inurnment will be in the Missouri Veterans Cemetery, Springfield, Mo., at a later date.
The family respectfully suggests that donations be made to the Autumn Movinsky-Anderson Education Fund, in lieu of flowers. Contributions may be made at Evans Funeral Home or Landmark Bank.
PAID
