Norwood “Woody” Anderson was born on July 15, 1945, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Ralph (“Bud”) and Gladys Anderson. In his early years Woody lived in Detroit, Kansas City, and the Chicago area. He grew up in a loving Christian family, along with his sisters Norlene (Kemp) and Judi (Koopmans). He and Linda met at Wheaton College (Illinois) and married June 15, 1968. During Woody’s medical school years, they spent a summer in East Africa, where they served with Africa Inland Mission and Woody did an alternate quarter learning about tropical diseases and collecting research samples. When Woody graduated from University of Illinois Medical School in 1971, they moved to the Boston area, where Woody did his internship and first year residency at Boston City Hospital. Then came two years as a flight surgeon in the USAF in San Antonio, Texas, followed by a move back to Boston for continued training in internal medicine and then a fellowship in hematology/oncology. He first began practice as an internist/medical oncologist in 1978 in Lexington, Massachusetts. Eventually he joined “The Cancer Center of Boston” as a full-time oncologist. His last decade of practice was spent developing a new medical oncology program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Woody had three great loves: his God, his family, and his patients. Along with his voracious love of books, ever-inquisitive mind, and love of asking questions, Woody was a man of deep feelings. Even as he loved medicine with increasing passion, he came to love the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. He was greatly influenced by Linda’s father, Dr. Samuel J. Schultz, who was an Old Testament scholar. Over the years, Woody began doing a lot of teaching in churches in various places he and Linda lived. In Illinois he and Linda taught a junior high Sunday School class; in their church in Hingham, MA, they taught a high school class and worked with the high school youth group. From their first Sunday at Grace Chapel in 1982, Woody taught an adult Sunday School class. Over the next 21 years, he taught adult classes for 18 years, eventually culminating in his design and teaching of a large class for which he developed a three-year curriculum called “Journey to the Center of our Faith.” Along with his teaching, he also became a church leader, serving as an Elder in their church in San Antonio, Texas, then in Carlisle, MA, and then at Grace Chapel in Lexington, MA. Above all, he loved the Scriptures—and the God of the Scriptures.

Next to God, Woody loved his wife and the three wonderful children God gave them, who were a stunning answer to prayer after long waiting. When they were little, he loved taking them everywhere on his bike seat or especially in his backpack; in their college years, when he sent them literally hundreds of emails and hilarious cards, he often reminded them of the fact that God carries us secure “between His shoulders.” (Deuteronomy 33:12). As they grew older, he spent nearly every Saturday when he wasn’t on call leading the kids on various adventures. This meant he often got up in the early pre-dawn hours on Sunday to finish his teaching preparation. In their teen years, he orchestrated fabulous fun vacations, complete with color-coded travel books highlighting various hikes—especially to waterfalls. He never missed a game in any sport each of them played, despite his brutal hours as a medical oncologist. From the ecstasy with which he first held each of them as newborns to the joyful exuberance of each of their weddings, he “took great delight”—always and always—in them.

As they built their own lives and families, each of the twelve grandchildren stole a place in his heart, inspiring many trips to far places to see them. Woody and Linda’s son Bjorn and his wife Abby, living in Dover, NH, have four children: Soren (15), Nils (11), Lars (5), and Ishyta (3). Lars and his wife Kelly, currently living in Kodiak, Alaska, also have four children: Bengt (16), Hannah (12), Annika (8), and Linnea (6). Erika and her husband Richie, living in Cork, Ireland, also have four children: Gabriella (13), Judah (10), Evangeline (8), and Lachteen (6). 

Woody was also passionately devoted to his patients. He loved walking alongside them as they made precarious journeys through the darkest times in their lives. He took great joy in the continual advances in cancer treatment, which gave him opportunity to offer them earthly hope. But whenever he could, he engaged them in spiritual conversations in order to steer them toward eternal hope. One patient summed it up: “You gave me the courage to hope.” One night Woody had a dream. He was at the end of his long day at the office. As he walked through the waiting room, he was astonished to find it full of people, every chair taken with many standing. “Tonya, who are these people?” he asked his office manager. “I don’t know,” she replied. “They just showed up and said they wouldn’t leave till they could see you. They wanted to thank you.” Looking more closely, Woody recognized the faces of former patients who had died. When he relayed the dream to Linda, he named many of them one by one.

In his first year of medical school, Woody made a profound decision. He had a memorable encounter with an anatomy professor who declared with force: “I have never, ever, met a good doctor for whom medicine was not first in his life. Medicine must always be first in your life.” Woody left that encounter with resolve: “I want to be a good doctor, a really good doctor. But medicine will never be first in my life. God will be first. Family, second. Medicine, third.” He lived out that commitment. 

“Well done, good and faithful servant . . . Enter into the joy of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:21, NKJV)