Norman R. Anderson, a University of Puget Sound geology professor who helped remake Tacoma city government and who served more than a decade on the Tacoma School Board, died last week at the age of 90.
Anderson was part of a citizens group that in 1970 helped launch a successful recall movement against five members of the Tacoma City Council. He was a member of the school board from 1974 to 1985. And he and his wife Margaret, who died in 1998, were active in the early years of Tacoma’s Urban League in the 1960s.
“Norm and Margaret were outstanding supporters of the Tacoma Urban League,” recalled Tom Dixon, its founder and president emeritus. “They did a lot to help Tacoma move forward in terms of better race relations.”
The Andersons’ son, Eric, said his parents had a lot in common, but they functioned independently – an unusual trait for members of their generation.
“What they had in common is that their social and political activism was never out of a sense of obligation,” he said. “They just did things.”
Dixon said Anderson played a key role as a member of the school board in the late 1970s, suggesting that the Urban League temporarily fill in as the school district’s affirmative action administrator. Dixon said the result was an increase in the number of African American teachers in the school district.
Several of those who knew Anderson described him as “a people person” who never flaunted his education and expertise.
“He was down-to-earth,” Dixon said. “You could deal with him – regardless of his Ph.D.”
Former Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma was a student of Anderson’s at UPS, which was also Anderson’s alma mater.
“He was the most demanding professor I had,” Baarsma said.
Baarsma and Anderson worked together on the 1970 council recall petition. A citizens group disagreed with the tactics of the council majority, accusing them of several irregularities, including appointing a city manager without letting the rest of the council know.
Baarsma said Anderson was one of a group of active progressives within the Democratic Party.
“He was truly a genuine article,” Baarsma said. “People always knew where he was coming from.”
Baarsma and Anderson would later become colleagues on the UPS faculty, where Anderson began teaching in 1949.
He was known as an instructor who could translate complicated science into concepts anyone could understand. He was a faculty leader at UPS, chairing the geology department for more than 20 years and serving in the faculty senate and other campus positions. He retired in 1985.
The university each year awards the Norman R. Anderson award to a graduating geology major who exemplifies Anderson’s love of learning.
Anderson was born in Tacoma in 1921, attended Tacoma schools and graduated from Stadium High School in 1939. He served in the Navy during World War II and saw active duty during the recapture of the Philippines.
He is survived by his children, Deb Anderson and Eric Anderson, his brother Randal and several nieces.
Arrangements for a memorial service are pending.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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