Dale Robert "Pete" Anderson

Dale Robert (Pete) Anderson, 1924-2025

Pete was born July 13, 1924, on a farm in Ontario Township, Knox County, Illinois to Carl Francis and Alice Hammerlund Anderson. All of Pete’s ancestors were Swedish, the earliest having immigrated in the 1850s and 1860s.

Pete went to high school in Altona, Illinois, where he excelled in baseball and basketball. There was another Dale Anderson in his class, so a classmate gave him the name “Pete.” He went to Bradley University for one year but had to go home to the farm upon the death of his younger brother. He subsequently served in the U.S. Army of Occupation in Korea.

Pete was a renowned local softball pitcher. He met his wife, Ruby Tornquist, when she saw him pitching near where she lived in Galesburg, Illinois. They married in Galesburg in 1949. In 1952 Pete, Ruby and their two children, along with his parents, moved to Henry County, Illinois where they farmed 540 acres. They raised hogs and cattle until 1975. One year a load of prime Angus cattle topped the market in Chicago. Another year 2,000 hogs were farrowed. Two more children were born while Pete and Ruby lived on the farm. 

The family were members of the First Presbyterian Church in Kewanee, Illinois, where they both served as elders. Pete’s parents retired and in 1975 he and Ruby moved to Kewanee, where he worked as manager of a farm service fertilizer and chemical plant. Ruby worked at Abilities Plus, a social services organization. Upon retirement Pete and Ruby moved to Galva, Illinois. He loved helping his friends Roger, Kevin and Craig Conrad with the harvest for a number of years.

In 2011 Pete and Ruby moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where their two daughters live. Ruby passed away on September 15, 2015, at the age of 85. Pete passed away at the age of 100 on January 9, 2025.

Survived by son C. Michael Anderson and wife Liana in Billings, MT; daughter Carolyn R. Anderson and husband Thomas O’Sullivan in St. Paul, MN; daughter Laurie L. Anderson and husband Jon Hanson in St, Paul, MN; and son Jeffrey D. Anderson and wife Kristen Welsh in Geneva, NY; as well as granddaughters Megan (Dan) Vasko of Billings, MT and Robin (Mark) Veale of Adelaide, Australia, six great-grandchildren, and seven great-great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, January 18 at Rux Funeral Home in Galva. A visitation will be held one hour prior to services at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Oneida Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to the First Presbyterian Church, 307 S. Tremont St., Kewanee, IL 61444 or to the Bishop Hill Heritage Association, P.O. Box 93, Bishop Hill, IL 61419.

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