Haisten Funerals & Cremations
Lester Roland Anderson, "Toby" to friends, passed away age 87 on October 27,
2019. Toby was born on September 30, 1932 - at the height of the Great
Depression - in Plainview, Arkansas, a rural town that did not yet have electricity.
He was the youngest son of the nine children of Myrtle M. Schlenker and Jacob
Nero Anderson. Toby's father died when he was three, which meant growing up
with meager resources where he survived through extra measures of wit,
courage, and will. At age 17, he married Syble Inez Williams. When their son Gordon arrived, they realized that Nimrod, Arkansas, lacked the employment opportunities needed to raise a family. At 19, Toby hitchhiked to Ajo, Arizona, and there he worked as a laborer in the New Cornelia copper mine where his Uncle Sid was employed. Gordon was soon joined by baby brother Larry. A technical correspondence course and strong personal drive brought Toby a
promotion to shift electrician, beginning his lifelong career in electrical engineering. In 1966 he moved to Peru where he met and married Renee Nell Wade in 1970, shortly after she had begun teaching there. They returned to the United States for three years where Toby completed a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1975. Then Toby and Renee returned to Peru where they raised their children, Samantha Lee Anderson (Fowler), Wade Thomas Anderson, Laurel Aimee Anderson (Stein), and their adopted daughter Maria "Maruja" Luisa Anderson. Toby continued working for the Southern Peru Copper Corporation and went on to become the General Superintendent of all of the corporation's facilities in three different cities in Peru. The family returned to the United States in 1988. Renee and Toby moved to Round Mountain, Nevada where they both worked for Round Mountain Gold Corporation. In later life, Toby would reminisce fondly about camping experiences in Nevada's nearby Peavine Canyon. He completed his mining career with three years in Antofagasta, Chile. Toby and Renee retired to her family's hometown of McDonough, Georgia, where they lived for 22 years. He was preceded in death by his parents, all of his siblings, his son Gordon Ray Anderson, and grandchild Paul Hillary Anderson. He is survived by Renee, his beloved wife of forty-nine years, and five children and their spouses, Larry Wayne Anderson, Samantha and Ray Fowler, Wade Thomas Anderson, Maria Luisa Anderson, and Laurel and Michael Stein. He is also survived by eight grandchildren, Kristy Dawn Nations, Lisa Ann Frazier, Trina Lee Jewel, Jacob Colin Anderson, Hunter Thomas Anderson, Tessa Renee Fowler, Fletcher Grey Anderson, and Toben "Toby" Cash Fowler, as well as 12 great grandchildren. Toby's remains were cremated and will be kept at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia until he is joined by his wife at which time they will be interned together at the Monastery. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital or to the Catholic Shrine of the Immaculate Conception or to a charity of your choice. Haisten Funerals & Cremations, McDonough, GA, haistenfunerals.com
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