Roland F. Anderson

– Roland Frank Anderson, who died May 3, 2016, was born in London, England, in 1928 to Frank William Anderson and Doris G. Anderson. After grammar school he joined the Royal Navy at age 17. Luckily the war had recently ended, but the Navy left him with a rich vocabulary and a lifetime of salty songs.

Roland next worked in his father's camera shop near Victoria Station; but raised on boys' adventure stories, he decided to see the Empire and emigrated to Canada, taking a job in a camera shop in Calgary. When fall came, the young men with whom he had made friends went off to college, something Roland had never considered – but he'd noticed that they weren't any smarter than he was, and the next year he enrolled in the University of British Columbia. Here he met his first wife, Brigitta; they had a son, Douglas.

Roland completed a master's in English at the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. at the University of Toronto, then became a professor at the University of Alberta. Adventure still beckoned, though, and the young family emigrated to New Zealand, where he taught at Massey University. Here tragedy befell: Bright 3-year-old Douglas succumbed to a then-undiagnosable neurological disorder and gradually lost the power of speech. He never regained it. Hoping for better medical treatments elsewhere, the family returned to Edmonton, Alberta, where Roland taught at the university again. He became a highly respected chair of an English Department of nearly 70professors.

Roland's first marriage eventually ended. His second wife, Linda Woodbridge, was a colleague in the University of Alberta English Department, a single mom with two little girls, whom Roland helped raise from early childhood. He was a great dad, always willing to help with homework or drive a girl to a riding lesson. He was lively and witty, and could jump into the air and click his heels. He did all the grocery shopping and laundry, and half the dishes. Linda worked to restrain the salty songs around the girls.

Jennifer Marino, daughter of fellow English professor Jim Marino and a childhood friend of the girls, has just written to Linda, "He was such a dryly funny man, I so enjoyed his company, and the way you and he played off each other. I always loved coming over to your house –you were the fun grown-ups when I was little, and then when I was bigger, you were people I wanted to grow up to be." In recent days, many former colleagues have written in remembrance of Roland's wisdom, fairness and compassion as an academic leader.

When Linda was offered a job at Penn State in 1994, Roland (ever game to try a new place) emigrated to America with her. By now he was retired from the University of Alberta, but taught part time at Penn State for 10 years – Victorian, New Zealand and Australian literature. The two traveled to England nearly every year, and also to Italy, New Zealand, Australia, Korea and Japan. Still willing to try a new place at age 83, Roland joined Linda in retirement to Missoula in 2011.

Roland is survived by his son Douglas; his brother, Douglas and his wife Joan; his niece Deborah, nephew David and David's two children, Daniel and Holly, all of England; his loving wife, Linda, and stepdaughters Dana Fitz Gale (with her husband John and sons Nathaniel and Liam, of Missoula) and Rachel Prusko (with her husband David and daughters Emma and Malory, of Edmonton).

Celebrations of life will be held at Ten Spoon Winery in Missoula at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 8, and during the following week in Edmonton.

"He was a man, take him for all in all. We shall not look upon his like again."


Read Roland Anderson's Obituary and Guestbook on www.missoulafuneralhomes.com.