Michael E. Anderson, 55, of Helena, Montana, died suddenly of a heart attack on Monday, February 14, 2011. He was born on November 7, 1955 at Alcester, South Dakota. He attended school in Alcester and graduated from Harrisburg, SD high school. Mike was a wrestler and loved playing football. He attended Dakota State University, where he met and married Carolyn Lueth; and together they had a son, Eric. After graduation with his Bachelor of Science degree, he taught high school physics and science classes in North Dakota and Montana. He later married Joyce Packowski. They moved to Helena and Mike ran the Handy Andy mobile auto repair service. Later he went to work as a Materials Specialist for the Montana Department of Transportation, where he worked until his untimely death. He delivered papers for the Independent Record, going over the continental divide every morning before most people were awake. <\/p>\n
Mike loved riding motorcycles and toured much of the United States on his bike. He spent much time with the ABATE group and pursuing HOG ABC\u2018s of touring. He attended Sturgis rallies whenever he could. He was a continuous promoter of the beauties and wonders of the state of Montana; he referred to living here as \u201ca bit of paradise.\u201d His love of science and learning led him to membership in the Montana State Gem & Mineral Society and interests in paleo-archaeology. Mike loved the outdoors, canoeing, and photography. He was a member and judge of the American Cribbage Congress and Sons of Norway. <\/p>\n
He was preceded in death by his fianc\u00e9e Diane Thompson and an infant sister Donna Jean Anderson. <\/p>\n
He is survived by his son Eric Anderson, Sioux Falls, SD; parents Miriam and Eugene Anderson, Harrisburg, SD; brother David Anderson and friend Jon Colburn, Pittsburgh, PA; sister Elaine and Mike Rieck and their sons Matthew and Patrick, Mitchell, SD; step-daughters Kirsten Packowski-Dowell and Regan Packowski; his grandmother Hazel Ambroson of Beresford, SD; aunts and uncles; and his special friend Kathy Koenig. <\/p>\n
The family will receive friends from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Friday, February 18th at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Saturday, February 19th at Anderson Stevenson Wilke Chapel. A reception will be held at the Eagles on Fee Street immediately following the funeral service. Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting: www.aswfuneralhome.com.<\/p>\n","photo":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/318915_profile_pic.jpg","youtube_video_url":"","family_email":"","family_first_name":"","family_last_name":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case\/767","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/case"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/case"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenafuneralhome.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}