Mark Eugene Anderson peacefully passed from this life March 23 at his home in Centerville, Utah. Born in Pocatello, Idaho on January 19, 1926, he was 92 years of age. At Pocatello High School, he was secretary of his Sophomore class, Vice President of his Junior class, and School Attorney his senior year. After graduation in 1944, he joined the Army Air Corp and qualified for pilot and navigator training, but due to an overabundance of pilots, he was sent to teletype school in St. Louis, Missouri. The war ended before he was to go abroad and so was discharged in December 1945. A month later, he was interviewed for a mission and called to serve in Sweden.Six months later, he was sent to Helsinki, Finland and became the first missionary to learn the difficult Finnish language. He was the Helsinki District President and then counselor to the new Mission President, Henry Matis. He served until June 1949. He graduated from Brigham Young Universityin two yearsby taking the maximum number of credit hours plus correspondence courses between quarters and earning 50 credit hours for Swedish and Finnish. In 1951, he began law school at the University of Utah and during an Institute dance, he met Marilyn Felt who was a violinist with the Utah Symphony Orchestra. After graduation, they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 14, 1954. They moved to North Colorado to do missionary work. Mark was soon called to be the North Colorado President and Marilyn the District Primary President. While there, they adopted a cute little Indian boy and named him Benjamin after King Benjamin, and Marilyn played with the Denver Symphony. Back in Salt Lake City in 1958, Marilyn returned to the Utah Symphony., and Mark became an Assistant Attorney General. In July of 1960, Mark Felt was born, andin six months, they moved to Los Angeles where Mark worked as a Trust Officer for the United California Bank. In 1961, Mark was called to preside over the Finnish Mission, and so the family moved to Helsinki. In 1964, Mark was asked to work in the Church legal department in Frankfurt, Germany. In 1965, they were back in Salt Lake City where Mark worked in the Church Building Department as a real estate inspector and Marilyn returned to the Utah Symphony. Mark worked two years as a coordinator for the John Birch Society and ran for the U.S. Senate in 1968 and for the U.S. Congress in 1972. Next, he joined with Austin Belnap and Merrill Nelson in an insurance partnership with Sun Life of Canada and later Beneficial Life of Utah. At this time, he got his pilot\s license and flew his plane to many places, including the Bahamas, where the family attended a Beneficial Life convention. At one time, he constructed a BD5plane, and later he decided to make violins. He took a course at Prier Music and presented Marilyn with the first violin that he made, which she stills plays. He developed a few real estate subdivisions and built their dream home at 980 Northcliffe Drive where they lived and he served in the bishopric and high council until their call to the Helsinki Temple and a move to their subdivision home in Centerville, Utah. Mark and Marilyn had a great love for missionary work and used their musical talents together to teach the Gospel through music and the spoken word in missions served in Seville, Spain and the Canary Islands, Cali, Colombia, Kiev Ukraine. They also served CES missions in Edenberg, Texas and the Santa Monica, California Institute.
Mark is survived by three brothers, Gale, Joel, and John, and by one sister, Alice Mae Colton. Also his wife, Marilyn, two sons, Benjamin Richard (Mary Lou) and Mark Felt (Denise), six grandchildren, ninegreat grandchildren, and quite a few putative grandchildren from many places. He was best known for his smile and sweet spirit.
Funeral services will be held at11:00 am onSaturday, April 14in Centerville, Utah at the Park Ward,1125 North 400 Westwith a viewing at9:30. A viewing will also be heldon Friday evening from5:00 to 8:00pm Larkin Mortuary,260 E. South Templein Salt Lake City.
