Richard Anderson, systems engineer with a zest for life, dies at 61

RICHARD DANA Anderson liked to live large.

He had a taste for chauffeur-driven cars, fine food and travel. Wherever he lived - and he bounced around a lot as an executive for IBM - Richard made sure his house had a pool, because he was big on pool parties and cookouts where he would dish up his famous barbecue and secret sauce.

It was especially tragic, therefore, when he was badly injured in an auto collision in West Philadelphia in 2009 that left him a quadriplegic.

He died Sunday of complications of the injuries. He was 61 and lived in Wynnefield.

"When you were invited to one of his famous barbecues, all you had to bring was yourself. The food was always great and never-ending," his family wrote in an obituary.

"These soirees would sometimes last up to three days on holiday weekends, with different groups of family and friends in attendance."

As a systems engineer for IBM and later with the SunGard software company in Philadelphia, Richard had homes in North Jersey, Atlanta, Cheltenham and Mount Airy. All with a pool and plenty of space for cooking and guests.

Richard was born in Philadelphia to Robert Jones and the late Nannette Brown. He graduated with honors from the Scotland School for Veterans' Children, in Greene Township, Franklin County, and went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was a standout member of the football team.

He was hired by IBM as a dispatcher and later trained as a systems engineer. After leaving IBM, he continued to work in that field and wound up with SunGard. Known for his movie-star looks, with a flair for smoking cigarillos, family members called him "Ricardo," after the film star Ricardo Montalban. An aunt thought he looked like the actor Dana Andrews.

"Richard was quietly confident, smooth and debonair," his family wrote. "Quite the charmer, it was in New Zealand at a cousin's wedding where several guests took pause and inquired about what they thought was his celebrity status."

"Rich could cook, party, laugh and cry with the best of them. He had an infectious smile, a boisterous laugh and raucous sense of humor as he loved to stir the pot."

He enjoyed sports, especially the Eagles. Win, lose or draw, he "bled Eagles green," as the saying goes.

"Richard was a father to the fatherless, a friend to the friendless and, at one time or another, everything to everybody," his family wrote. He was generous to a fault, sometimes to his detriment, his family said.

"He would give you whatever he could, if you were in need. If he didn't have it, he would do what he could to secure it from another source. His kindness sometimes overruled reason."

He is survived by his father and a sister, Gloria Covington. He was predeceased by a brother, Charles.

Services: 11 a.m. Monday at the Wood Funeral Home, 5537 W. Girard Ave. Friends may call at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Mt. Lawn Cemetery, Sharon Hill.