Larry Anderson

Larry M. Anderson, 88, of Flandreau, South Dakota, passed away on August 8, 2026, in Pipestone, Minnesota.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11:00 AM on Sunday, August 30, 2026, at Skroch Funeral Chapel in Flandreau.

Larry was born on November 19, 1937, in Flandreau, SD, to Nell (Schramer) and Jesse Anderson. He attended school in Flandreau, graduating from FHS in 1955. Soon after graduation, he and high school friend Orin Tollefson enlisted in the U.S. Navy. During his four-year stint in the Navy, Larry served as a flight crew member, radar operator, and aviation electronics technician, flying in P2V-7 Neptune aircraft out of Alameda, CA; Kodiak, AK; Barber's Point, Hawaii; Iwakuni, Japan; and Midway Island with anti-submarine Navy Patrol Squadron VP-9. He also held a security clearance that enabled him to work in the Air Intelligence Office, where he prepared and submitted classified reports to the Pentagon. Larry served in Alaska in 1958 and Hawaii in 1959 when they, respectively, achieved statehood. A highlight of his life came in 2019 when he was invited to fly to Hawaii on a private Lear Jet and meet in Pearl Harbor for a squadron reunion.

During his time in the Navy, Larry met his future wife, Madeline Bishop, from Palo Alto, California, and they were married in 1960.

Larry held various jobs over the years, which included cement mason, truck driver, and TV repairman in California; American Airlines dispatcher in Chicago, IL; and test technician at Stage Brite Electronics in Minneapolis, MN. He was a swim pool tile contractor in California and was involved with the construction of pools for notables such as Shirley Temple Black, Bing Crosby, the Pebble Beach Golf Course, and the 14th-floor pool at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel. He also worked on the reconstruction of the London Bridge in Lake Havasu, Arizona, and was a robotics technician in Litchfield, AZ, until his retirement in 2000. Larry loved aviation, and he obtained his private pilot's license.

Upon retirement, Larry returned to his hometown of Flandreau and found his legacy when he was instrumental in reviving the Flandreau City Band in 2003 along with his two sisters and assisted in fundraising for the construction of the Band Shell. He played trombone and also served as Vice President for the band for almost 10 years. He designed the sound system and built the cabinets housing the components in the equipment shed at the Band Shell. He was also the "Memory Lane" disc jockey for the local area.

Larry was preceded in death by both parents, his wife, Madeline, and sister Barbara Anderson. He is survived by daughter Peyton, St. Augustine, FL; granddaughters Kelsea McGrogan, Charleston, SC, and Madeline Ramey, St. Augustine, FL; great-granddaughter Berkley DeCurtins, Sioux Falls, SD; and sister JoAnn Edwards, Flandreau.