“Sadly, I share the news that we have lost Woody Anderson, our classmate and enthusiastic class agent. Woody brought us the popular Zoom calls which continue to grow as more of us join in. I will miss his cheerful voice and love for Deerfield.
Our kindest thoughts and sympathies go out to Kathleen, his wife, and three children.”
John Bell ’51
Birth: July 17, 1934
Death: February 7, 2025
Sherwood L. Anderson
Sherwood L. Anderson III, 90, died peacefully at his home in Burlington, Connecticut,
on February 7, 2025, after a short illness. He was born July 17, 1934, in Allentown, Pennsylvania to Sherwood L. Anderson Jr. and Elizabeth Jennings Anderson. After attending Allentown schools and Deerfield Academy, he went to Yale University, graduating with an A.B. in English in 1955. He then went to Columbia Law School, where he received his LL.B. in 1958. In 1957, Sherwood married Kathleen Tildsley Griffiths, “Kate”, of Riverdale, the Bronx. They were married for more than 67 years, had three children, and moved to Bristol, Connecticut in 1958, then to Burlington in 1972.
He worked for the Bristol law firm Beach, Calder and Barnes, which later became Anderson, Alden, Hayes and Ziogas. Becoming a partner in 1963, he stayed at the firm in a general practice for 39 years. After retiring, Sherwood attended Wesleyan University and received a master’s degree in Liberal Studies, concentrating on literature. He was an aficionado of “The New York Review of Books” and an avid reader of fiction, poetry, history, letters and diaries. He belonged to several book groups with Kate.
Sherwood volunteered extensively in his communities. In his early days in Bristol, he joined the Charter Revision Committee, the Rotary Club, and the Bristol Board of Education, eventually becoming chair of the latter. Later, he helped found the Main Street Community Foundation, the Burlington Land Trust, and the Barnes Nature Center and served on their boards. Over the years, injustice increasingly concerned Sherwood. He was a long-serving member of the Connecticut Bar Association Human Rights Section. He advocated for racial equality as well as women’s, LGBTQ, and end-of-life rights. He volunteered in legal aid programs and worked to end the death penalty in Connecticut. He and Kate participated in the Hartford/Ocotal Sister City Project activities and traveled to Nicaragua with this group to promote friendship between the people of the two cities.
A hiker, skier, and nature lover, he delighted in studying the weather and in sighting birds, bears, deer, and snapping turtles. At home, he appreciated the goats, cats, ducks, geese, guinea pigs, iguana, and rooster. For almost 70 years, he spent time each summer on Little Deer Isle, Maine, where he enjoyed sailing, climbing the hill on Butter Island, motorboat picnics, classical concerts, lobster dinners on the front porch, and being with the people of Little Deer and Deer Isle.
Sherwood was kind, compassionate, level-headed, and generous. He had a ready sense of humor. He was a devoted letter writer, eager to stay in touch with his friends, children, and extended family. He will be terribly missed. Surviving Sherwood are his wife; three children: Laura Martineau (Tyler), Sarah Anderson-Krengel, and Winslow Anderson; five grandchildren: Genevieve Anderson-Krengel, Eliza Mendus (Patrick), Jim Martineau (Casey), Elaina Martineau, and Sherwood Martineau; and two sisters: Hilda Jennings and Rachel Thompson.
He wanted his body to be donated for medical education and research after his death. It has been given to the Anatomical Gift Program at the medical school of Quinnipiac University. A memorial service will be held March 29, 2025, at 11 A.M., at the Harry C. Barnes Memorial Nature Center, 175 Shrub Road, Bristol, Connecticut. Donations in Sherwood’s memory may be made to the Sherwood L. Anderson Charitable Fund, Main Street Community Foundation, P.O. Box 2702, Bristol, CT 06011-2702.
Published in:
Hartford Courant
from March 2, 2025
