Roll Call Tribute

Memorial Funeral Chapel obituary
1515 South College Ave, Bryan, TX 77801 | 979-823-8125

Carl G. Anderson, PhD
October 22, 1931 - August 30, 2014

Dr. Carl G. Anderson, 82 of Bryan, passed away Saturday August 30, 2014 at St. Joseph Regional Health Center in Bryan. Visitation is scheduled for Tuesday September 2 nd from 6:00P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at Memorial Funeral Chapel in Bryan. Committal Services will be at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday September 3th at the Aggie Field of Honor at Memorial Cemetery of College Station. Memorial Services will follow at 11:30 A.M. at First United Methodist Church in Bryan with Reverend Rick Sitton officiating.

Carl was born October 22, 1931 in Taylor, Texas to Elna Victoria Anderson and Carl G. Anderson, Sr. He graduated from Taylor High School in 1949. After serving his country in the United States Army, he enrolled in Texas A&M and received his Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Economics in 1958. In 1960, he received his Master's Degree in Ag Eco from LSU where he met Shirley Bolton whom he married on December 25, 1965. In 1966 he and Shirley returned to Texas A&M where Carl received his Doctorates Degree in Ag Eco in 1969. He immediately accepted a job with the Federal Reserve Bank in Dallas, where he and his family lived until he returned to A&M in 1978 with the Texas A&M Agricultural Extension Service. Dr. Anderson is extremely well respected for his knowledge of the Cotton Industry and has received numerous recognitions and awards.

Carl retired in 2004, but continued to maintain his office and work on many of his favorite projects. He loved to work his farm in Williamson County and was looking forward to seeing the Cotton Crop that had been planted. He was a longtime member of First United Methodist Church in Bryan.

He is survived by his wife of 48 years, Shirley Anderson of Bryan; his daughter, Caroline Rydell and husband Jim of Falls Church, Virginia; grandchildren, Charlie and Claudia Rydell of Falls Church, Virginia; one brother, Bobby Anderson and wife Sheila of Thorndale, Texas; one sister, Patricia Hanson and her husband Charles of Taylor, Texas; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, Memorials may be made to the Carl G. Anderson Graduate Assistantship in Agricultural Economics. For more information, please call (979) 845-1751.
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(Published in) The (Bryan-College Station) Eagle (on) September, 2, 2014

Renowned Aggie economist Carl Anderson dies at 83

BY BLAIR FANNIN Special to the Eagle | Posted: Tuesday, September 2, 2014 12:00 am

Dr. Carl Anderson, considered by his peers as Texas' leading authority on cotton marketing and one of the nation's top analysts in the industry, died over the weekend. He was 83.

Visitation is from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Memorial Funeral Chapel in Bryan. Services will be at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday at First United Methodist Church in Bryan. Prior to services, burial will be at the Aggie Field of Honor in College Station.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Carl G. Anderson Graduate Assistantship in Agricultural Economics in care of the Texas A&M Foundation at agecon.tamu.edu.

Anderson, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist emeritus and agricultural economics professor, served the Texas A&M University System for 36 years. He retired in 2004, but continued cotton marketing education efforts, working with the department of agricultural economics at A&M and AgriLife Extension.

Thirty years of his A&M System service was as the leader of extension education to help cotton farmers successfully market their crops and manage risk.

"Dr. Carl Anderson was an icon in the cotton industry," said Parr Rosson, head of the department of agricultural economics at Texas A&M, College Station.

"Though retired for the past 10 years, Dr. Anderson was highly active, conducting numerous educational programs and research activities. His contributions to the Texas cotton industry and AgriLife Extension are unparalleled," Rosson said.

Mark Waller, AgriLife Extension economics program leader in College Station, said that throughout Anderson's career he strove to improve the lives of Texas farmers and ranchers by providing the best economic analysis and information available through newsletters, farm press publications, applied research and educational presentations.

"His leadership, tireless commitment to quality and his reputation as a cotton marketing specialist earned the admiration of his extension counterparts and cotton industry professionals across the South," Waller said. "He will be missed."

Anderson's many achievements included induction into the department's Tyrus R. Timm Honor Registry, which recognizes distinguished alumni, as well as receiving the Texas A&M College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Alumni award, Rosson said.

Anderson grew up in Taylor during the Great Depression.

"I had to hoe Johnson grass and pick cotton. That was hot, hard work," Anderson recalled during a 2004 interview prior to his retirement. "I said to myself, 'this thinking part is pretty easy.'"

Anderson said that, while working on the family farm, he saw a need for better marketing strategies for agricultural commodities --- particularly cotton.

"I thought one of the weaknesses was marketing," said Anderson, who credited the GI Bill for allowing him to attend college. "You can work hard, and a farm takes hard work, but you've got to handle your operation as a business."

Anderson earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics from Texas A&M in 1958, following service in the Army. He went on to earn his master's at Louisiana State University in 1960 and his doctorate at Texas A&M in 1969.

In the 1970s, as a senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, he developed price risk management programs for cattle feedlot owners. Texas' cattle feeding industry was also in the beginning stages and state officials were concerned about how much money it would take to set up the infrastructure and financing.