Kent Lee Anderson

Kent Lee Anderson, 78, of Lincoln,NE passed away April 3, 2024 in Omaha, NE. Kent was born to Philiip C. Anderson and Norma Gene Anderson (France) July 7, 1945 in Crete. NE. Survived by brothers Mark (Kim) Anderson, San Francisco, CA, Dale (Mary) Anderson, Sarasota, FL, and Paul, Lincoln, NE. Sisters Sara (Gerry) Velder, Elmwood, NE and Jane, Ames, IA, many nieces, nephews cousins and friends and Shel Anderson (Wilson), Durham, NC.

Kent was hospitalized in Lincoln and then Omaha for 116 days with an unexpected acute case of pneumonia with sepsis.

Kent graduated from Crete High, Crete Nebraska. Class of 1963 (Salutatorian)

Doane College, 1964, undergraduate

Stanford University, graduated 1967

Communications

Kent and Shel Wilson were married in May 1966 after she graduated from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. Kent was still a student at Stanford at that time. And shortly after their marriage, Shel was offered the opportunity to attend a special program on the use of statistics in Anthropology for the summer in Massachusetts. Kent agreed, and they drove from Nebraska to MA. After the program was done, they detoured through NYC on the way back to Neb and on to California.

Shel had been admitted to the graduate anthropology program at Stanford, and Kent was finishing up his BA.

In 1967 Kent graduated with a BA from Stanford and was accepted into the graduate program in the Dept. of Communications there.

Shel's work as a grad student in anthropology brought a new opportunity the next summer - field work in Mexico. Kent and Shel drove to the south of Mexico, to Oaxaca, and spent the summer living in a small Zapotec village. Once a week they attended field school back in the city of Oaxaca. They also spent a week in Mexico City exploring the wonderful anthropology museum and other cultural spaces.

Back at Stanford, Kent began to do research on the impact of television on children. His department had access to the Stanford mainframe computer, and he began to learn computer languages like Algol in order to play with programming. Shel was doing research for her dissertation and big exam.

Exam passed, funding secured, the couple began to plan the next big adventure - field research in Bolivia.

Kent and Shel had funding to go to Bolivia for research but it was limited. So for their first stage, they decided to go by train from Palo Alto to Mexico City, where the airfare to Bolivia was much cheaper. So, first stage - train from Palo Alto to Texas, then train to Mexico City, then fly to Bolivia with stopover in Panama.

Arriving La Paz, then direct to Cochabamba. This was where the MNR revolution to take away the forever rights of the landholders to own and direct labor of the Quechua peoples who had lived there for centuries.

First they spent time at the Maryknoll Fathers Instituto de Idiomas. Both Kent and Shel wanted fluency in Spanish. Then Shel spent a couple of months beginning to learn Quechua, the language of the rural folk.

Kent was beginning to look at what was being talked about in newsprint and Shel was learning where the new farmers' markets had sprung up after the big change: how was campesino produce finding its way to cities from the countryside.

This involved traveling all over the high plateaus to attend these markets. Sturdy jeep, bad roads. Kent was a wonderful driver.

Bolivia was a major lesson in Latin American politics. Regular 'golpes de estado' - coups to take over government. One year there were 7 different presidents.

They were there for almost 2 years, returning to Stanford in 1971.

As time in Latin America wound to an end, Kent and Shel made a trjoiolivia to Brazilia, the capital built from bare land to a wonderful modernist design. Then to Rio, where we joined our friend Wallace Higgins to marvel at that wonderful city. New Year's Eve on Copacabana beach!

Kent then went on to employment at:

Feed Service Canada

General Manager

London Ontario

TriCarbon Corporation

Vice President

Crete

Foodsmith Corporation

Vice President

Crete

Farmland Foods

Crete

PSSI-Packers Sanitation Services Inc.

Mt. Pleasant Iowa/Lincoln/Omaha/Council Bluffs/Tecumseh, etc.

Jackson Hewitt, Seasonal Tax Preparer

Lincoln

Kent was extremely well read. He loved poetry, fiction, science, social issues, politics, religion, birds, stars, music and all things possible to think about. Every person he met brought a smile to his face, comment to their ear and a deliberate truthful thank you.

His intelligence will be missed. I thank my Brother and Best Friend Kent. -Paul

Lincoln Memorial Cemetery, South 14th St. Lincoln

Memorial gathering to be at later date. Contact Paul at paul@foodsmith.biz or call

402-217-9500.