David Carl Anderson, age 84, passed into God’s arms the afternoon of October 30th, 2024. Though he lived most of his life in the state of Rhode Island, he spent his final days residing with his daughter, Louisa, and her husband Juan in the home of his grandchildren, Paloma (17) and Monica (15) who affectionately called him Opi.

David grew up in the small sea state of Rhode Island. He was born into a family with a fervor for sailing, wooden boats and craftsmanship, passions which carried him through all his days and are still embraced by the youngest generation of his family.

“Dave” graduated from Daycroft School in Stamford Connecticut in 1957, where he was an avid participant in varsity sports and became known as having a mischievous side in his tinkering in the Chem lab. He began his college days at Lincoln College, a junior college in Illinois where he came into his own making the Dean’s list and was a charter member of the collegiate honor scholastic society of Phi Theta Kappa. He rounded out his college education at Blackburn College with a degree in History and a strong focus of German, while paying in part for his education by working a bricklayer and plumber for the college.

David spent his early adult life in the White Mountains of New Hampshire where he worked at a boarding school as an English teacher. There he imparted his love for woodworking and craftsmanship teaching a woodworking class in a self-made “shop.” He met his first wife, Veronica, and the two had the joy of spending a year overseas with the school in the small village of St. Jakob nestled in the mountains of Austria in the State of Tyrol.

David’s passion for woodworking, and craftsmanship continued as he moved to Rhode Island shortly after the birth of his daughter, Louisa, where he worked for his father’s company Eastern Construction, known for its honest approach to its work. There he began as a union carpenter, eventually taking on the role of one of the company’s owners at the retirement of his father Carl. Eastern Construction eventually transitioned into Eastern Repair and Weatherproofing, until it closed upon David’s retirement.

Foundational to David’s life was Christian Science. And through his ardent love for the “law of good,” he followed in his parents’ footsteps, serving as the church’s Sunday School teacher, then First Reader and Board Member. It was through God’s Love that David met his second wife Heidi. Originally from Austria, Heidi’s light brought David back to the love of a country he had lived in years prior with a family that welcomed him and his daughter as their own. David and Heidi spent their years focusing on family and their mutual love of the outdoors, visiting, and climbing the mountains of Saltzburg until Heid’s passing in 2022.

The culmination of David’s love for sailing, wooden boats, and craftsmanship lives on today in “Little Dipper,” a wooden sailboat, hull number 1422, originally built in 1938 by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, of Bristol Rhode Island. When David returned to Rhode Island in the early 70’s, he acquired her with the goal of restoring her to seaworthiness. Over the span of 50 years, David instead focused his time on loving and supporting his family and refurbishing their home while “Little Dipper” remained a staple in their backyard, eventually jutting up to the kitchen window in a self-constructed boathouse where she still is today.

In lieu of flowers or as an act of remembrance, please consider making a donation to the Herreshoff Marine Museum at https://herreshoff.org/ or by mail to Herreshoff Marine Museum, PO Box 450, Bristol, RI 02809

Family visitation will be held on Thursday November 7th, from 3:30 – 6:30 with the sharing of memories to begin at 6:30 at Sawyer-Fuller Funeral Home located at 2125 Twelve Mile Road, Berkley MI. A larger Remembrance Service is to be held in Rhode Island during the summer of 2025 at the family’s home in Narragansett. 

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