John's Webpage

Dad grew up in Ida, Vivian (Caddo Parish), and Plain Dealing (Bossier Parish) areas of north east Louisiana.
Mom grew up in the Marthaville area of west Natchitoches Parish. Post WWII, they met in Shreveport and married.

I am the oldest of 4 brothers (no sisters) all born as "Baby Boomers" in Shreveport. We lived on Grigsby St and went to Caddo Heights Elem. School until the summer of 1959 when our family moved 8 miles out to Blanchard, La just in time for me to start the 5th grade in Sept. There on the Dixie-Blanchard Road, Hwy 173, is where my brothers and I grew up raising calfs, cutting grass and going to school. Mom had a beauty shop along side the house, "Janaes Beauty Shop", and had many many area customers. She and dad were very active in the Blanchard Eastern Star Lodge.

Grandpa Anderson lived on Caddo Lake near Mooringsport.  So I learned to swim, fish, and hunt there.
One thing for certain is "Even a bad day at the lake or at the ballpark is better than any good day at the office."

I went to Caddo Heights Elementary on Linwood Ave in Shreveport for grades 1-4, Blanchard Elementary for grades 5-8, Lakeshore Jr. High in Shreveport for the 9th grade and Fair Park High in Shreveport for grades 10-12. I graduated from Fair Park High in May 1967 and have many fond memories of school and sports there.

With the money I saved, at 15 in the 10th grade, I bought my 1st car – a well used 1956 Chevy BelAire 4 door automatic with A/C.  Well the A/C didn't work and neither did the 4 door family look, so after a few months I traded it for a 1955 BelAire 2 door gold hot rod. My brother, Mike, and I always had part-time jobs. Saturdays at "The Shreveport Times" newspaper stuffing comics and ads and weekday evenings at the "KCS Railroad", unloading new vehicles (Fords) from the trains. So in the fall of 1966 we together had enough money to buy a new 1967 Chevy Camaro. Enough to promise to make the payments anyway. As brothers we alternated date nights, etc and shared that Camaro through high school. $86.04 monthly payments where usually easily split, but in some months it was hard to come up with the dough.

In Sept '67, I began college at LSU-S (2 year Junior College at the time). In the summer of '68 our family moved back into Shreveport. And in Sept '69 I transferred to LSU at Baton Rouge where in the spring of 1971 I met Meg. Then we married in Dec. 1971. She completed her bachelors degree in Elem. Education at LSU in Baton Rouge in 1973 while I worked at various jobs to get us by. For Christmas 1975, we moved to Lake Charles where Meg taught 5th grade at Jackson St Elementary until I finished my bachelors degree in Mathematics & Computer Sciences at McNeese State Univ. in May 1977.

After I graduated from McNeese, Meg & I moved to South Bend, St Joseph Co, Indiana for a good job in data processing at Associate Financial Services.  I was a rookie Fortran and Assembler programmer. Our sons (John & Steven) were both born there. In June 1980, I transferred on the job as an applications programmer / developer to the Dallas area, and settled in Arlington, Tarrant Co, Texas.  Here we've been ever since. Once the boys started elementary school, Meg began teaching again. She retired after 28 years all in 1st grade at J.B. Little Elem. just down the road from our residence. The job market and our health did hold. We both retired in 2014. See our "Retirement Dashboard".

Janie Fricke once had a country song that I tried and tried to get my wife to love as much as I.
Perhaps you've heard it – "Easy to Please" which contains the best line ever – "Pleasing you pleases me!"
She (my wife) was reluctant to enjoy the song as much as I wanted her to.

As I approached retirement, my geneaolgy, ancestry and DNA interest seems to get the best of me. Now retired, I find myself anxious to visit cemeteries, courthouses, find a new reference, etc. Any chance to find a new cousin is a great thing. Funerals are less depressing if loved ones are present and willing to discuss the "Good Ole Days".
At the top of this and each webpage is our Anderson Family "Table of Contents" (menu). Be sure to check out our Ancestry webpages.

Consistant with this genealogy fever and back in 2010, I joined the Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution. First the Ft. Worth chapter, then the Arlington chapter. I stay active with both chapters.

The Ft. Worth chapter is well established and often has activities where I can be involved.

The Arlington chapter is much smaller and needs all the assistance it can get. As the Registrar, I assist new candidates with their paperwork. And as the Web Admininstrator, I attempt to keep their website up-todate.

I'm retired, but I stay busy. I don't have time for a real job anymore. I will be glad to assist any of my relatives learn of their ancestry and if they're interested, I be glad to assist them with joining the SAR or DAR. Chapters are all across the nation. Surely there's one near you.

Your email comments are welcome. Thanks for visiting!