Michael P. Anderson

Michael P. Anderson 

October 25, 1991 – February 20, 2024

Michael Patrick Anderson was born at Children’s Hospital in Omaha on October 25, 1991, to dad, Scott Anderson and mom, Deborah Anderson. He was a new little brother for Erik Anderson, and would be a big brother to Jennifer Anderson.

Michael was an extremely happy and bubbly baby, a trait that followed him throughout life. As a toddler, he loved to empty the pots and pans from the cupboard and “cook food” for mom and dad on the marble coffee table in the living room (often in just a gray sweatshirt, sans diaper), as well as line up his toy dwarves from Snow White, and march in place singing the “Dig-Dig-Dig” song using a plastic spatula as a pick.

Michael’s love of dinosaurs started around then, and followed him throughout his life, which he shared with his dad. Michael attended Rockwell Elementary, then Willowdale Elementary School and often as a 1^st and 2^nd grader would go and read books to the kindergarten classes. After 5^th grade, Michael transitioned to Russell Middle School where he excelled and was often named Student of the Week. Michael took a German class as an 8^th grader, which followed him his whole educational career. Michael then attended Millard West High School from 2007 to 2011 where he earned a letter for Varsity Show Choir West in the Groove, and he was also a guitarist for the Junior Varsity Swing Cat group. He earned an award from his German teacher, as well as graduation with distinction. Michael was a member of the Brookside Church junior high and senior high ministries until June of 2007.

After starting at the University of Nebraska Lincoln where was awarded a Fine Arts scholarship in Music, Michael’s initiative led him to Metro Community College for his gen-eds, and then to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where he graduated with a 4.0 GPA, and a bachelor’s degree in history and a minor in German. During his time at UNO, Michael spent two summers in Germany deepening his knowledge of the language. A random find of an old German Atlas led Michael to his master’s Thesis, which he earned at the University of Kent in Canterbury, England. His final educational accomplishment was to earn the highest certification possible from TEFL, an institution that certifies individuals to teach English as a Second Language.

Michael applied his love of history and kids in his job as an education specialist at the Sac Museum in Ashland. He also did part time work as an ESL teacher in South Omaha.

After being a groomsman in his sister, Jennifer’s, wedding, Michael moved to Sam Phran Thailand, where he taught 2^nd and 3^rd grade English, History, Science for almost 3 years. After returning to Omaha, Michael moved to the Baltimore, Maryland area to start work on his Ph.D. While there, he started a job at Iron Mountain Storage and Archive in Jessup, where he was a document imaging specialist working on a U.S. Army contract to digitize and index recently declassified material, spanning from just after the U.S. Civil War up to, and including the Korean Conflict. Michael’s deep love of history made this a job he grew to deeply love. Michael worked there until his passing on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, succumbing to his life-long battle with severe depression and anxiety.

Michael was preceded in death by his grandparents, Harold (Andy) and MaryLouise Anderson; his great-grandmother, Opal Anderson; his grandmother, Joyce Copeland. Michael is survived by his dad, Scott Anderson; mom, Deborah Anderson; stepmom, Jill Anderson; brother, Erik Anderson; sister and brother-in-law, Jennifer and Tyler Priebe; niece, Tatum Priebe; uncle, Russ Anderson; aunt and uncle, Kristi and Scott Swancutt, all of Omaha;  uncle and aunt, Don and Kate Renter of Norfolk; uncle and aunt, Dan and Elaine Renter of College Station; stepsisters, Madisun Nuismer (Santa Cruz, Ca), Tessa Nuismer (Omaha); cousins: Colleen (Anderson) and Ryan Hartley and their son, Kellen, of Grimes, Ia., and June (Anderson) and Thomas McCarty of Dickinson, ND, and their son, Callahan; grandma, Sue Anderson (Harold); step-grandparents, Larry and Ginny Hinrichs of Omaha; best friends: Billy Coghill, Jake Hodgson, Jess Reyes, Dan Cleveland and Jess Teaford, all of Omaha, and Bryan and Whitney Pirrone of Colorado Springs. There were many other hearts and lives Michael touched in his time as well.

Michael became involved in Tiger Cubs, moved up into Cub Scouts, Webelos (where he earned every achievement possible), and finally into Boy Scouts where he was awarded the rank of Eagle Scout at only 14 years of age, one of the youngest in the troop ever. Michael went to camps at Many Point in Ponsford, Minnesota, and Cris Dobbins in Elbert, Colorado.

Michael was extremely intelligent and had a mind for facts that was unparalleled. This was evident in his life-long passion for music, history, politics, and movies. Michael and his uncle, Scott Swancutt, would listen to music for hours, delving deep into the structure, tempo, composition, and lyrics. In his spare time, Michael would take to completely different songs and weave together a “mash-up”, whereby the two songs were melded into one that usually sounded better than each original. Michael took acoustic guitar lessons, and taught himself electric guitar, bass guitar, piano and keyboard, and had started learning to play the sitar, a stringed instrument from India.

Michael was born with a sense of fair play, which he never lost. When he was teaching in Thailand, he often bought clothes, books, and food for his students since their parents spent a vast majority of their income on school tuition and fees.

At a restaurant job he held in Catonsville, Maryland, Michael confronted a group of men who were making rude, demeaning comments about a younger female co-worker. He firmly told them she was a human being, much more considerate and kinder than they were, and she deserved, and he demanded they treat her with respect, and unless they treated her with the respect that she was due, he would ban them from the establishment, which the manager backed up. In the same restaurant, Michael also frequently bought meals for two homeless men, who he had built a relationship with over the course of time.

Michael was a very outspoken advocate for those who were marginalized by society, and the focus of his Ph.D. was going to be antisemitism in the modern political machine.

His wit, knowledge, loyalty, smile, patience, and presence in the lives of his family, friends, and co-workers will be painfully missed by all who knew him. We will carry his smile and his laugh with us until we meet again. We love you Michael.

VISITATION begins Thursday, March 7th, 9:30 a.m. at Brookside Church (11607 M. Circle) with a MEMORIAL SERVICE following at 10:30 a.m..

Interment: Papillion Cemetery.

Memorials may be directed to the family for a memorial to be determined at a later date.