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John L. Anderson Oak Ridge, TN QCWA # 15177 Chapter 60 |
John Lewis Anderson, 89, of Oak Ridge, died on the morning of April 28, 2017 at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge. Mr. Anderson was an engineer in the Instrumentation and Controls Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory - X10, for 38 years, retiring in 1994. Previously, he was employed by the General Electric Company in Schenectady, New York, Idaho Falls, Idaho and Cincinnati, Ohio. Born March 15, 1928, in York County, PA., he was the son of Alwyn Murat Anderson and Sarah Hess Anderson, who are deceased. Mr. Anderson and his wife Lucina Pless Anderson, who died in 1983, moved to Oak Ridge in 1956. Earlier, both Mr. and Mrs. Anderson grew up in nearby Norris and both graduated from Norris High School, now Norris Middle School. Mr. Anderson served in the United States Navy as an Electronics Technician in the latter part of WW2 and then attended the University of Tennessee, graduating in 1950 with a BS degree in Electrical Engineering. He was named to Eta Kappa Nu and Tau Beta Pi national engineering honor societies. While employed by the General Electric Company, he did graduate work at University of Cincinnati, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. After returning to Oak Ridge, he received an MS degree in Electrical Engineering at UT in 1963. He was a licensed professional engineer. While an undergraduate, he participated briefly with the swimming and rifle teams before entering the military. He and his family were avid boaters and swimmers and spent many years enjoying these activities, mostly on Norris Lake. Both he and his wife were active with the Red Cross and were Water Safety Instructors, First Aid, and Canoeing Instructors. Mrs. Anderson was a Registered Nurse. Both were active with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops. He was an active amateur radio operator and experimenter since childhood and held the call sign AG4M. He was a member of the Oak Ridge Amateur Radio Club and a charter member of the East Tennessee DX Association. He was an avid bird hunter for quail and grouse and trained his own dogs. He and his wife were active members of First United Methodist Church, serving on many committees, teaching youth Sunday school and singing in the Chancel Choir. At ORNL he was a member of the Instrumentation and Controls Division and was a principal designer of the control and protection systems for several research reactors, including the High Flux Isotope Reactor still in operation. He also developed plasma position control systems for ORNL Tokamak fusion experiment facilities. He held several patents. For several years he was an instructor at the Oak Ridge School of Reactor Technology (ORSORT). He also was a part-time instructor of engineering technology at Roane State Community College. Just prior to retirement in 1994, he was task leader for instrumentation and control systems for the proposed Advanced Neutron Source Reactor. He received commendation for coordinating ORNL assistance during the early phases of the Three Mile Island accident recovery operation and later worked with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to recommend and review changes to all nuclear power plants to reduce the probability of other similar events. Mr. Anderson is survived by his daughter Joan Anderson of Oak Ridge. He was predeceased by his son, Roger Anderson II, and four brothers, Roger, Robert, Richard and Harold Anderson. A brief memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Saturday, May 6, 2017 at Weatherford Mortuary in Oak Ridge. Visitation will be at 1:00 PM prior to the service. The body will be cremated. The family requests any memorials be in the form of donations to First United Methodist Church youth programs, or to the charities of the donor's choice.