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Man happy to call Hastings home
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP)--For more than 90 years, Merle Anderson has been making his mark on the world. He's sold polled Hereford cattle, farmland and homes; represented Central Community College on the local, state and national levels; and raised a family, all while living in Adams County. "I was born right here in Hastings, grew up around Hastings. Never got very far, I guess,'' he said. At nearly 91 years old, Anderson has seen and done a lot of things and has never regretted living anywhere else. When he was in the U.S. Navy during World War II and stationed in Memphis, Tenn., a neighbor offered him a job with McCaskey Cash Register once the war was over. "I thought, 'Ah, I want to go back to the farm,''' Anderson said. The farm he was referring to was his farm north of Ayr. Anderson met his bride while picnicking at Crystal Lake north of Ayr one afternoon. "I was helping with running the boats. So I saw this good-looking gal and I thought I better take her boating,'' he said. The rest, as they say, is history since Merle and Dorothy have been married for nearly 70 years. During those years on the farm, the couple raised their sons, Dick, Alan and Scott. The three sons all still live in Adams County, as well. "It's kind of unusual for everyone to be concentrated in one place like that,'' Merle said. Merle and Dorothy lived on the farm through the late 1960s while selling cattle across the country. A back injury after an incident with a bull forced Merle out of the cattle business, which his eldest son, Dick, took over. The Andersons moved to Hastings and Merle got into the real estate business, selling land from Hastings to as far west as a half-mile from the Colorado border. Selling land seemed like a good option to Anderson. "I had been selling registered cattle and I thought, 'Well, if you can sell one thing, you can sell another,''' he said. "And I had some selling experience, you might say.'' Anderson has been selling land for a long time. In fact, he kept up with his real estate license and renewed it every year up until 2009. That's when some health problems forced him to finally retire. "It was the first time I haven't renewed my license since 1969,'' he said. As with most men of his age, Anderson spent 3 1/2 years in the service during World War II. He enlisted in the Navy at age 23 straight off the farm. "The Navy sounded like a better deal,'' Anderson said. "You had your own bed and your own cook.'' He spent part of his time stateside as an instructor with the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Chicago and later in Memphis. Eventually, he was assigned to the USS Webster harbored in the San Francisco Bay. "When we sailed under Golden Gate Bridge, it was so cloudy the only time you could see the bridge was when you were directly under it for about 10 feet,'' he said. "It made you wonder where you were going and what you got yourself into.'' After the war, Anderson returned home. In later years, while working in real estate, Anderson remembered those days of serving as a naval instructor. Those training academies set up by the government for soldiers had taught them many useful skills just like the community colleges, which were born from this concept. While Central Community College opened as Central Nebraska Technical College in 1966, it wasn't until 1978 that Anderson was finally persuaded to run for the school's board of directors. "They do an excellent job of making education and job training possible to allow a lot of people to upgrade their training for not a lot of money,'' he said of community colleges. Anderson served four terms on the board. Anderson said he has been blessed in life. And he's shocked that he's kicking after this many years. "Like a friend said, If I knew I was gonna live that long, I would have taken better care of myself,''' he joked.
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