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BEN RILEY ANDERSON, SR.

(1927 - 1985)

Ben was born March 27, 1927 in Oxford, Alabama. He was the sixth of eleven children born to the parentage of Howard and Mary Boyd Anderson. He grew up in Munford, Alabama and at an early age he joined Shady Grove Baptist Church where he attended regularly.

Ben attended Jenifer High School where he completed the ninth grade. He was taught by some of the same teachers that would teach his children in later years. After leaving school, he worked at Bynum for a while before deciding to join the Marine Corp. During his time in the military, he served in World War II.

Upon leaving the military, he relocated to Youngstown, Ohio where he found work at the Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company as a steel pourer. We were always told that he was the first black man to do this job. He met and later married Grace Lee Heath. From their union, four children were born (Ben R. Jr., Denise, Henry, and Anthony).

While still a young man, Ben found himself alone to raise his four children due to the untimely death of his wife. Rather than continuing to take his children from relative to relative while he worked, he made what was not only the biggest choice of his life, but one that was the best choice. He choose to take his children to live with his mother (Mary Boyd Anderson) in Munford where he knew they would be brought up with the same morals and values that he had been raised with.

Although his mother raised Ben's children, they always loved and respected their dad and they knew that he always loved them. There were times, however, when he would get some drinks in him and he would have the children to line up in a row and tell them to give him four bars, which meant he wanted them to sing, of course, they never wanted to do it. There were also the times he would make a big pot of soup which he called Slum Gollian because it consisted of a little bit of this and a little bit of that and the kids would have to eat it.

Ben was a smart man and he had many sayings. He never referred to water as water it was always aqua. His favorite saying from the Bible was "In my father's house there are many mansions." Other favorite sayings include:

"You've got to go by the book", meaning always follow the rules and regulations.

"Men have plans, but God has programs", meaning you can make plans, but those

plans may not be God's will.

"You can't buy love, you have to be loved", meaning if a person can't love and accept

you for who you are, you don't need that love.

The saying that has been passed down from his mother to him and to his children and from his children to his grandchildren went as follows:

"Once a task has begun

Never leave it till it's done

Be the labor great or small

Do it well or not at all."

Ben was loved by all and his memories will live forever. We love you Dad.

Denise, Henry & Anthony