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Anderson is still cookin’
Tammara Green/Post-Register
Lillian Anderson has worked as a cook and janitor for the Quincy School District.
Lillian Anderson settled in the Quincy Valley with her husband, Arthur L. Anderson in 1954. “Starting in 1953, we were here every weekend building our basement home. It was the first year the area was irrigated,” she said. On their 70-acre farm, Anderson and her husband grew dry beans, sugar beets, field corn and seed crops such as alfalfa, radish seed and mustard seed.
She was born in the tiny town of Bucyrus, N.D. As Anderson recalled, her family lived in a sod house on a small farm. She started working odd jobs at the age of 9. In one instance, she spent several weeks working for a woman who had a broken arm and could not cook or clean. Anderson became homesick and wanted to go home. When she told the woman, she was told simply that there was no gas to take her home. “My house was six miles away and I walked home. It wasn’t long before they came for me in their car. My mother told her, “It seems you have the gas to pick her up, but not to bring her home. She’s not going with you anymore,” said Anderson.
North Dakota was a harsh environment for Anderson as a little girl. She recalled many snowstorms where they were forced to dig tunnels through the snow so they could walk to the outhouse. Cyclones and tornadoes were also a common occurrence. They would hide in a root cellar while the tornadoes passed. On one occasion, a cyclone picked up their only working vehicle and carried it two miles away. The whole town was shook when a baby girl was also swept away during a similar storm. She was found later almost two miles away, lying safely on a rock at a local farm.
Eventually, Anderson’s father moved them closer to town, where they lived in a small four-room house. At the time, her father was a new employee of the local police department. “There isn’t much there anymore. I am not even sure the town still exists. The whole town consisted of a school, post office, a church and a grocery store,” said Anderson. Soon after, her father switched jobs and worked for the railroad. He was able to earn more money there.
In 1943, after her father saved up some money, he moved the family on the train to Washington. They were headed for Grandview to live with Anderson’s grandparents. “I remember soldiers on the train who were headed home. They were so lonely for their families. They entertained us on our trip. They gave us oranges, which we had never had before,” said Anderson. Upon arrival, her father found work there as a carpenter and eventually retired from the Carnation milk plant.
She married Arthur Anderson while in high school. They had three boys and one girl, who all attended Quincy schools. When her youngest son was in the sixth grade, Anderson got a job working as a cook for Pioneer Elementary. Anderson was the cook for the first eight years in the kitchen, and took the position of baker the last two years. “We made everything from scratch. I made cinnamon rolls, cookies, cakes and rolls,” she said. Even after Anderson left her position in the kitchen, she continued to cook for the fourth-grade spaghetti feeds and bake cakes for the fourth-grade field trip. Jim Culp, the principal at the time, would help make the spaghetti sauce and season it to his taste. Anderson remembers “doctoring” the sauce after he would add the spices. “It never tasted just right, so after he would walk away, I would add more spices. He never knew, and he would take credit for the great spaghetti sauce. It was a running joke in the kitchen,” laughed Anderson.
Although Anderson didn’t finish high school the first time, she made a promise to herself that she would get her GED. She studied and made her goal, graduating the same year as her youngest son.
Anderson, who always prepared food for the fourth-grade field trips, was finally invited to come along on one.
“A lot of kids had never even been outside of Quincy. I had never been to downtown Seattle. It was a wonderful trip,” said Anderson. She was assigned to ride ahead with the principal and set up lodging and food arrangements before the buses arrived. After 10 years of working in the kitchen, Anderson took a full-time janitorial position. She needed the job because her husband, who was the main bread-winner, suffered a stroke and could not work anymore. “I remember going to the interview. They asked me if I could lift 50 pounds. I told them that I lift 50 pounds of flour every day when I’m baking, so it was no problem,” recalled Anderson. She was hired, and became the first female janitor in the history of the Quincy school district.
Anderson retired from the school district in 1997 while battling breast cancer. She survived chemotherapy as the cancer came back two more times. She loves the helpful neighbors here in Quincy. During her spare time, she enjoys crocheting, cooking, knitting, reading, baking and gardening. On occasion, Anderson picks up a paint brush and works on a “paint-by-numbers” project. When she can, she enjoys catching up with her eight grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
