Mary B. AndersonNovember 2, 1912 – February 6, 2013

The Conservancy deeply regrets to announce that Mary B. Anderson, wife of Commodore John W. Anderson and mother of Charles B. Anderson, Chairman of the Conservancy Board, passed away on February 6^th at the age of 100.Mary Anderson was born on November 2, 1912 in Clifton, Tennessee.  Her father, Captain Charles R. Beard, was a highly respected Tennessee, Ohio and Mississippi River steamboat captain.  She was one of the first women in her state to volunteer for service in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps during World War II and served with the Army Air Corps in England as a liaison officer with the RAF until 1945.  Her first transatlantic trip was aboard the Queen Elizabeth with thousands of GIs “packed like sardines.”   Returning to the US aboard the troopship John Ericsson (the former Swedish-America liner Kungsholm) she met her future husband, who commanded the ship in both the Pacific and Atlantic theatres throughout the war.  John Anderson went on to command the America until his appointment as master of the United States shortly after her recordbreaking maiden voyage in 1952 .Throughout her long life she remained an avid fan and supporter of the “Big U.”  She will be greatly missed by all of us.