Thanks Albert Anderson (1889-1974)

Anderson during his tenure as Mayor of Tempe.

  One of the more curious names you'll see while perusing a roster of Tempe, Arizona mayors, Thanks Albert Anderson served three terms as mayor of that city and was born, appropriately enough on Thanksgiving Day, hence his first name. A World War I veteran and prominent banker in addition to his mayoralty, Anderson was also a leader in Tempe civic affairs, heading war bond drives during WWII and was a past president of the city chamber of commerce. A native of Texas, Thanks Albert Anderson was born in the town of Brackettville on November 28, 1889, the son of George Albert (1850-1928) and Susan Arbelle (Mason) Anderson (1854-1936). One of several children, Thanks Anderson was not the only one of his siblings bestowed an unusual name, his sisters Content, Honor Glint, and Guess Eleanor having equally strange names of their own.

  Anderson's early education was obtained in Texas and in 1909 relocated to Arizona. Settling in Tempe, he soon found employment at the Tempe Hardware and Vehicle Company. He remained in their employ until 1915, and during the First World War enlisted in the U.S. Army, where he was a corporal in a field artillery unit. His exact period of enlistment and area of deployment remain unknown, and in December 1917 married in Arizona to Agnes Perry (1890-1924). The couple was wed for only six years before Agnes' death at age 33, and their union would be childless. Following her death, Anderson remarried in the late 1920s and had two sons, Mason Evans Anderson (born May 1929) and John (birthdate unknown).

  After leaving the Tempe Hardware Co. Thanks Anderson entered into a clerkship with the Tempe National Bank in 1916. Anderson would be affiliated with this bank for decades afterward and succeeded to the post of assistant cashier in the early 1920s. He would serve as its cashier from 1926-31 and in 1935 saw its merger with the First National Bank of Arizona. From 1950-54 Anderson was the bank's manager and vice-president and retired in December of the last-named year.

  Thanks Anderson entered the political life of his city with his election to the Tempe city council in 1930. Following his election to that body, the other council members elected him as mayor, with his first term extending until 1932. He would be returned to the mayoral chair in 1934 and won a third two-year term in 1936, but in February 1937 resigned from office, with councilman Hugh Laird being elected as acting mayor.

From the Arizona Republic, November 30, 1954.

  Following his final term as mayor Thanks Anderson served a one year term as president of the Tempe Chamber of Commerce in 1941 and during World War II was a leading figure in war bond drives held in Tempe. He would be active in the local Masonic lodge, the Rotary Club, the William Bloys Lodge No. 2 of the American Legion, and for many years was a booster for the Arizona State University's athletic programs with the Sun Angel Foundation. 

  Anderson continued residency in Tempe through the remainder of his life and on his 85th birthday was feted with a birthday party at his home. Shortly afterward he was felled by a heart attack and died the day following his birthday, November 29, 1974, at the Desert Samaritan Hospital in Mesa, Arizona. He was survived by his sons Mason and John and was interred at the Double Butte Cemetery in Tempe.

From the Arizona Republic, December 1, 1974.