Maurice J. Anderson, retired Air Force officer, job counselor, and ROTC instructor, has died at 94

Maurice J. Anderson, 94, formerly of Cherry Hill, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, vocational rehabilitation counselor for the state of New Jersey, Reserve Officers’ Training Corps instructor, and community advocate, died Friday, Sept. 15, of complications of a heart condition at Spring Hills senior community in Livingston, N.J.

Called a “caring, accepting person of the world” by his daughter Jana Anderson-Cardoza, Lt. Col. Anderson was an Air Force mission flight navigator for two decades at military installations in Greenland, Maine, Tennessee, Texas, the Philippines, and finally McGuire Air Force Base in Burlington County. He flew cargo and troops in the 1960s from the Philippines to Vietnam on C-141 Starlifter planes and evacuated the wounded.

He completed the ROTC program at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan., and served as an ROTC instructor at Tennessee State University in Nashville in the 1950s. He retired from active duty in 1973 and, determined to stay useful and help others, became a counselor with the New Jersey Division of Vocational Rehabilitation in Camden.

His top professional priority from 1976 to 1994 was matching motivated people, many with disabilities, to the perfect job. But he also directed his energy and organizational expertise to solving problems about housing, food, personal safety, and other important issues.

“He wanted to be busy,” his daughter said. “He wanted to do good things.”

Lt. Col. Anderson valued empathy and generosity. Inspired largely by his father, John, an altruistic landlord and community advocate in Topeka, he volunteered with social welfare groups in Camden and at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Cherry Hill.

He took his grandchildren on deliveries to food banks and hosted folks in need of shelter overnight at St. Bartholomew’s. “He checked up on everybody,” his daughter said.

He was recognized for his social outreach in 2018 by the Episcopal Diocese of New Jersey, but he wasn’t big on receiving plaudits. When family and friends expressed amazement at his achievements, Lt. Col. Anderson would usually smile and say: “All I did is get old.”

He was upbeat and resourceful, optimistic and self-effacing. “He never took the time to be impressed with himself,” his daughter said. “He was a humanitarian more than anything.”

Maurice James Anderson was born March 23, 1929, in Topeka. He was active with the Boy Scouts as a youth, joined the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity in 1948, and earned a bachelor’s degree from Washburn in 1953.

He entered the Air Force as a second lieutenant and was introduced to Beverly Anderson while in flight school in Houston. She was dating someone else when they met, but he told everybody who knew them that she was the one for him.

They married in 1954 and had daughters Jana and Sherri. They built a home in Sicklerville in 1973 and moved to Cherry Hill in 1976. His wife died in 2015, and he moved to Spring Hills earlier this year.

Lt. Col. Anderson was director of training at Philadelphia National Bank for three years before taking his job with the state. He earned a master’s degree in educational administration at Tennessee State in the late 1950s.

He and his wife traveled throughout Southeast Asia in the late 1960s when he was stationed in the Philippines. Later, they toured Europe, the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

He played tennis on his college team and golf into his 80s. He enjoyed all sports but followed the pro teams in Philadelphia and Kansas City most closely.

He liked Westerns and war movies, and read John Grisham novels and the newspaper almost every day. He cooked and grilled, and spent quality time in his garden.

He listened mostly to jazz and big-band music, and was a whiz at pinochle. He was active at St. Bartholomew’s for 30 years, served as an usher, and was a member of the church golf team.

Practically everyone at the Uxbridge condominiums in Cherry Hill, where he lived for years, knew who he was. He especially enjoyed visits with his daughters and their families.

“He always put others ahead of himself,” Anderson-Cardoza said. “He taught us how to live.”

In addition to his daughters, Lt. Col. Anderson is survived by three grandsons and other relatives.

A viewing is to be held from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 3, at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 73 S. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, N.J. 07042. A celebration of his life is to follow from 3 to 4 p.m.

Donations in his name may be made to St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 1989 Route 70 East, Cherry Hill, N.J. 08003; and Toni’s Kitchen at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 73 S. Fullerton Ave., Montclair, N.J. 07042.