ELDER ALMA SONNE

The song that was just sung by Brother Charles O. Peterson was a favorite with
Brother Anderson.
I think Brother Anderson, more than most people, saw a beauty and a
tenderness in the life and character of Jesus Christ.  To the family and to his friends
who are here assembled, I bring expressions of sympathy and high regard from the
Presidency of the Church, from President George F. Richards of the Quorum of the
Twelve, and from numerous others of the General Authorities of the Church.  Brother
Anderson's good life and his service to the church and to his fellowman are well
known to them.
I shall say what I have to say by itemizing briefly some characteristics and some
events observed by me in my close association with John H. Anderson, I am full of
emotion as I stand before you today. The passing of Brother Anderson has left a
vacuum in my life.  I came under his superb generalship as a young man almost forty
years ago.  Except for the period when each of us served in the mission field, we have
worked together in business and in church affairs.  My association with him has been
an inspiration and an education.  He was so wise, so strong, so well poised that to me
he appeared as a tower of strength, like some tall, rugged cliff that lifts its peaks
toward Heaven.
John H. Anderson honored me with his friendship.  Today I mourn with those
who mourn at his passing.  He was more to me than a friend.  I leaned on him in many
crises like a son on his father.  He stood amongst us like a mighty oak defying the
storms and elements.  He was so firm, so immovable, so unconquerable before trying
and difficult situations.  It seems, or it seemed to me, that he was always prepared for
every emergency.  I never saw him confused nor perplexed.
It is possible that the greatness of this great man was not generally known nor
recognized.  He was modest and retiring by nature, but forceful and mighty in conflict
with error and falsehood.  His life was full of achievement and good works.  His
steady, forward-looking labor was rich in accomplishment, for he was seldom
required to retrace his steps to make adjustments for errors.  His judgment was
sound; his counsel wise; and his course through life consistent.  He had a wide
knowledge of things and affairs.  He was cautious and conservative, but courageous. 
You would always find him on the battlefield for right.  He abhorred dishonesty,
trickery, and deceit.
His sermons were full of fervor and testimony.  His admonitions were
Christ-like.  He stood among us like a beaten anvil.  His feet were firmly planted and
his convictions always well founded.
He bestowed his gifts in such a way that even his intimate friends and neighbors
knew little or nothing about it.  The other day as I sat by his bedside, he said, "We
hear much about the poor.  We pray for them.  We talk and preach about them, but
what are we doing about it ?" Do you know that within recent months he has given a
fortune larger than most of us accumulate in a lifetime to the welfare program of the
church ? Do you know, he refused to let anyone know about it when the contribution
was made.  You cannot know that he has made provision for similar gifts and
contributions to worthy causes.  I hope his generosity will some day be made known
as an inspiration to others.  His liberality was not a last-minute gesture.  It has
characterized his entire life.  It manifested itself as a bishop of two wards, as a temple
worker for many years, and as a president of a mission.  He would never permit the
church to reimburse him for any item of expense incurred in his ministry.  He refused
to be recognized in any way whatsoever for his generosity.  On one occasion he said,
"Publicize it and it ceases to be a gift."
May I suggest that you read the New Testament in regard to alms giving as
outlined by Jesus Christ?  John H. Anderson was a firm believer in the teachings of
Jesus.  He was well versed in doctrinal matters, in church history, in the Book of
Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and in the Bible from cover to cover.  He had
a wide knowledge of both secular and religious history for he was a thorough and
consistent student.  A few years ago he began a biographical study of the founders of
our republic.  He had a high regard for George Washington, Thomas Jefferson,
Benjamin Franklin, and Abraham Lincoln. He frequently spoke of their integrity and
their honesty.  He was wont to quote the words of Andrew Jackson, "Heaven will not
be heaven to me unless I find my wife there." He frequently philosophized on the
eternity of the marriage covenant, on eternal companionships with those we love and
on the reality of the life beyond the grave, "The righteous will never be disappointed,
" he said frequently.
He loved the beautiful; he saw beauty in the lives of people.  He was deeply
moved by the abounding beauties of nature.  He loved the out-of-doors.  He
cultivated and developed beautiful flowers, and devoted many years of his later life to
their culture.
He knew people and was acquainted with the character background of many
families in this valley.  I was always impressed with his sincerity, with his humility, his
simple trusting, faith, and his reliance on God.  The skeptic and the unbeliever would
call him extreme, perhaps fanatical, but he was neither.  He would submit his
problems to God and he did so with full confidence. His faith sustained him and
carried him forward against every storm of adversity.
High standards characterized his home life.  His family are assembled here today
except two sons -- Merrill B. Anderson and Woodruff H. Anderson -- who could not
be present because of conditions beyond their control.
John H. Anderson was a product of the church. Spiritual ideals and unselfish
service were exemplified in his life.  With him first things came first. He fulfilled two
foreign missions, once as a mission president; twice he served as a bishop of a ward;
once he moved to Mendon in this valley, leaving his home, to serve as a bishop; forty
or more years he served as a member of the High Council; twenty as a stake mission
head; many years as a temple officiator; one term as mayor of Logan; twenty-eight
years as a bank president; half a century as an independent merchant.  He was
eminently successful in business.  He labored in the quorums and auxiliaries of the
church as officer and teacher.  His recreation was fishing, frequently with his entire
family.  He lived a full and complete life, intensely spiritual.  He was richly endowed
with prophetic powers.  He looked into the future and saw things yet to happen.  You
will read something like this in his brief history of his life, prepared a few years ago;
he said: "It was during the hectic days of the panic fifteen years ago, I was permitted
to look ahead into the future.  I saw the depression as it then existed disappear.  I saw
money, which was then very scarce, become exceedingly plentiful.  Indeed, the
situation would be reversed and the big problem would be the safeguarding of money
values.  I saw myself as an old man, indicating to me that I still had a few years left to
live upon the earth."
John H. Anderson's life can be an example to you and to me and to all men. 
God bless his family.  May they seek to emulate his clean, righteous life.  May they
develop in their souls a strong, unfaltering faith such as he possessed; and may they,
like him, put the everlasting and the important things in life first and leave the rest to
an overruling Providence, I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.


SONG, "O MY FATHER, " BY THE RELIEF SOCIETY CHORUS UNDER THE
DIRECTION OF MRS.  JAMES C. MCMURRIN.  SOLO BY MRS.  IRA N.
HAYWARD.

O my Father, Thou that dwellest
In the high and glorious place !
When shall I regain Thy presence,
And again behold Thy face ?
In Thy holy habitation,
Did my spirit once reside;
In my first primeval childhood,
Was I nurtured near Thy side.

For a wise and glorious purpose
Thou hast placed me here on earth,
And withheld the recollection
Of my former friends and birth,
Yet oft times a secret something
Whispered, "You're a stranger here;"
And I felt that I had wandered
From a more exalted sphere.

I had learned to call Thee Father,
Thro' Thy Spirit from on high;
But until the Key of Knowledge
Was restored, I knew not why.
In the heav'ns are parents single?
No; the tho't makes reason stare
Truth is reason, truth eternal,
Tells me I've a mother there.

When I leave this frail existence, When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
Then at length, when I've completed
All you sent me forth to do,
With your mutual approbation
Let me come and dwell with you.


BENEDICTION: PRESIDENT C. W. DUNN

Our Father who art in heaven, as we come to the conclusion of these splendid
services, we sincerely thank Thee for the great life of this true husband and father,
this good citizen, this loyal Latter-Day Saint, Thy faithful servant, and our true
friend and brother, John H. Anderson.
We thank Thee for his splendid sons and daughters and his posterity. May they
through all the days of their life walk in his footsteps.  May they draw from his life,
and may we all draw from the life of this good man, lessons of patience, frugality,
thrift, faith, love and service,
Wilt Thou bless the members of his family that their hearts may be inspired,
that their lives may be made better and stronger by the great faith and the testimony
which inspired this, Thy servant.
Let Thy benediction be upon us and with us, we humbly pray Thee in the name
of Thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.


DEDICATION OF THE GRAVE: PRESIDENT ELRAY CHRISTIANSEN

Our Father in heaven, surrounding this open grave, we dedicate and
consecrate this spot of earth as the resting place for the mortal remains of Brother
John H. Anderson.
We dedicate every part of the burial and everything pertaining to this burial,
Father, and we pray humbly that nothing may molest it until the morning of the first
resurrection when he shall be called forth and receive his glory and eternal life.
We do this humbly in the name of Thy son, Jesus Christ, Amen.