Joe Edward Anderson

What is grief? The textbook definition is the response to the loss of something or someone deemed important, to which a bond or affection was formed. In the case of Joe Edward Anderson, who went home to Glory on Thursday, October 10, 2024, that definition is not enough. For those in mourning, it is all the unspent love that gathers up in the corner of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go. He had a lot of love left to give and so much more left to receive. Although he can no longer walk this earthly plane, we can still gather and share our unspent love for him until we meet again.

Joe Edward Anderson was born on September 3, 1933 in Okolona, Arkansas as the first child to Willie D. Anderson and Della Phifer. He voluntarily gave his soul to Christ at an early age. He attended Henry Bell High School and left home at the age of 19, moving to Flint, Michigan to work at General Motors. In 1960, he relocated to San Jose, CA and fourteen years later married his second wife, Eloise Hubbard. He eventually retired from General Motors in 1986. After retirement, Joe started his own carpet cleaning company which he successfully ran alone for 36 years. He was a member of the Cathedral of Faith Church.

Joe Anderson was one of a kind. He loved people and was always willing to help somebody that was worse off than himself. Out of everything he gave, he rarely if ever expected anything in return. He had a profound love of cars, owning a new one every two years in his middle age days. Of course, they are all classics now. He was a family man, ready to have any of the Anderson clan and extended family over for a barbecue with ribs, chicken, greens, and sweet potatoes. Whatever room he was in, Joe was alight. Not only because of the vitamins and collagen he took daily keeping his skin and teeth shiny, but because of his outgoing aura. He had a talkative, fun loving, friendly personality, but he was also firm and strong when it came to his family. People could talk to him about their successes and failures with no judgement, and knew he would always keep it real. When his wife became ill in 2007, he became her primary caretaker while still running his business and remained as such until his last breath. He was overall a good looking, respectable, honest, kind, generous, and confident force of a man.

Mr. Joe Anderson leaves to cherish his life and memory: his son, Jerome Patrick Anderson of San Francisco, CA; his wife, Eloise Anderson of Manteca, CA; one sister, Erma Jean Solomon of Goodyear, AZ; three brothers, Willie (Frankie) Anderson of Southfield, MI, Lurie (Dorothy) Anderson of Pine Bluff, AR, and Gary D. Anderson of Bakersfield, CA; two aunts, Roberta Anderson and Opal Rice, both of Topeka, KS. He also leaves behind a host of nieces, nephews, and cousins. Joe was preceded in death by his father Willie D. Anderson; his mother, Della Anderson; and his three sisters, Clarice Cook, Celeste Jackson-White, and Ithalean Payne.