J. Max Anderson Obituary (1928 - 2021)

Funeral services for J. Max Anderson will be broadcast on Saturday, August 21, 2021 beginning at 11:00 am MDT. To watch this service, please click on the link below. Click HERE to view Funeral Services for J. Max Anderson J. Max Anderson, beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend passed away peacefully at home on Thursday, August 12, 2021. He was born on May 12, 1928, in Richfield, Utah, the eldest of six children born to Joseph Lyman Anderson and Violet Fern Wilkinson Anderson. An active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he served a two and a half year mission to his ancestral homeland of Sweden. He later served in many callings including bishopric counselor, gospel doctrine teacher, and priest advisor. He wrote two church books, The Polygamy Story: Fiction and Fact and The Priesthood of Modern Polygamy, An LDS Perspective, co-authored with Brian C. Hales. He served as a consultant with local missionaries and helped bring many members of the polygamist families back into the LDS Church. He was also an avid genealogist, writing a 700 page genealogy book on family lines in his retirement years. He was also an active member of the Holladay Chapter of the Sons of the Utah Pioneers. Max attended the University of Utah, Utah State University, and the University of California at San Diego. He received dual Bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts and Architecture. He passed the six architecture tests the first time around. He practiced in San Diego and was an architect with the Utah State Building Board of the Division of Facilities, Construction and Management (DFCM). He helped design many state and university campus buildings. He designed the Adams Memorial Shakespeare Theatre in Cedar City, claimed to be the closest replica to the Globe Theatre in London, England. It was in operation from 1977 to 2015, and was listed by the Salt Lake Tribune as one of the 20 most important buildings in Utah. Max grew up helping his dad start up a floral business, along with his mom. It became the well-known Anderson Floral Gardens, still going today. His dad was known as “Tomato Joe”, and Max delivered vegetables around town in a little red wagon. Both Max and his wife Nancy Butchereit were members of Sacra Dulce Chorus, a singing/social group, as well as International Folk Lorics, a folk-dancing group. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple in 1968. They were blessed with two beautiful daughters, Nicole Elise Anderson, and Heidi Charisse (Robert) Gundersen. They have two grandsons, Matthew Robert Gundersen and Jacob Maxwell Gundersen. Max loved the outdoors. He was a bow hunter, a weightlifter, and a slalom water skier. He ran up City Creek Canyon every day during his lunch hour and successfully ran both the St. George and Deseret News Days of 47 marathons in his sixties. Max designed a beautiful cabin he and Nancy owned together with five other couples up Snake Creek Canyon above Midway, and enjoyed it for many years. Early on Max and Nancy camped every year with their little self-contained trailer at Bear Lake and Midway (before cabin) and house boated at Lake Powell. Max and Nancy also loved running the Colorado, Yampa, and Green Rivers. They met many wonderful people on these trips, and had great, unusual experiences, a long with other family members. They keep those friendships alive today. Max was preceded in death by his parents, all his siblings (Verde, Joyce, Garn, McKay, and Craig) as well as many other in-laws, several nieces, and a grandnephew. He will be sorely missed by his wife, Nancy, his children, his grandchildren, as well as other dear family members and friends. Special thanks to Bristol Hospice for their loving care, especially nurse Caitlyn Vernon and Dr. Cynthia Lawlor. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, August 21, 2021 at the Cottonwood 10th Ward Chapel at 4930 South Westmoor Road, Salt Lake City, Utah, at 11:00 a.m. with a viewing at 10:00 a.m. Family and friends may call Friday evening, August 20, 2021 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at Jenkins-Mortuary, 4760 South State Street, Murray, Utah.