Joshua Barrick Anderson

After a heroic and inspiring year-long battle with lung cancer, Joshua Barrick Anderson died peacefully at the Hospice Austin Christopher House on March 12, 2016 at the age of 41. He leaves behind his beloved wife Judy, two beautiful children, Olivia (10) and Quinn (7), and his stepsons Griffin (12), and twins Jonah and Owen (9).

Josh was born March 21, 1974 in Washington D.C., to Pat and Rusty Anderson. When he was five, the family moved to Middletown, MD, where Josh lived until graduating from Middletown High School in 1992. One of Josh's passions throughout life was football, and from an early age, the game he so loved taught him the values of hard work, discipline, and teamwork. As a senior captain, he led the Knights to the state title game, one of his most cherished memories and accomplishments as a player.

But it was off the field during his final two years of high school that Josh displayed the incredible strength and undeniable courage that were at his core. In the spring of 1991, Josh was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease. Throughout the summer and into the fall of his senior year, Josh endured painful chemotherapy and radiation, stayed strong enough to miss only one game in the process, and was declared cancer-free during his senior season.

Josh continued his education and his football career at Vanderbilt University, enrolling in the fall of 1992. He was a walk-on for the Commodores his first two years and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from the School of Engineering in December 1996.

Josh's career was focused on Information Technology, beginning in the greater Washington D.C. area, before settling in Austin, Texas in the summer of 2001. He and his young family moved to Hong Kong in late 2010 for an adventurous year, before returning to Austin in 2011. Josh absolutely loved what he did for a living, starting out as a skilled software engineer and ultimately developing his management and leadership skills as a director of technology. In particular with the XO Group at The Knot and most recently with BuildASign, Josh was loved and respected immensely in all of his roles.

Josh will certainly be remembered for his unabated love for his wife and his two children, as well as the three stepsons he gained when he and Judy Galani married. To those who knew him well, Josh will also be remembered for his endless pursuit of good times, a deep spiritual confidence and sense of his place in the universe, and an uncanny instinct for empathetic love and judgment. Besides football, on the short list of hobbies and talents, Josh was a skillful skier and snowboarder, not to mention a talented writer whose words were funny, witty, charming, and sometimes even a little crass.

Josh is survived by his wife and children, as well as his mother Pat; his sister Jennifer; his aunts and uncles (Joan and Ed Nichols, Donald and Bonnie Harding, Stuart and Janet Anderson, Bob Anderson, and Bruce Anderson); his great Aunt Anne Christison; and many cousins. He is preceded in death by his father, Rusty, his grandparents, his Aunt Maureen Anderson, and his Uncle Jeff Anderson.

Services for Josh will be held Wednesday March 16, 2016 at 2pm at the Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home on North Lamar Blvd in Austin, TX. Interment will follow at Austin Memorial Park. Pallbearers at the service will be Rob Anderson, Bob Anderson, Donald Harding, Andrew Derr, Jason Lucas, and Rob Collie.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to either the Hospice Austin Christopher House (http://www.hospiceaustin.org/get-involved-2/donate/) or the Lung Cancer Alliance (http://www.lungcanceralliance.org/ways-to-give/).