Salvation Army

Senior Major Gladys Eckness Anderson

Published in Lansing State Journal, Lansing, Michigan, on May 25, 1956
by Thelma G Harnett (Journal Staff Writer)¹⁾

Senior Major Gladys Anderson, quiet and unassuming, who has lived three lifetimes in one, will be at her husband's side from 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday to greet visitors at an open house climaxing Salvation Army Week at the citadel. The soft-spoken woman of slight stature, who has dedicated her life to the service of others, will be remembered by many, who have at one time or another, been given a helping hand by her and her husband, Senior Major Elof Anderson. But through all of this, Mrs. Anderson has been content to remain in the background, wanting no glory for herself.

FIVE CHILDREN
Her activities require an unbelievable amount of hours, of which few people are aware. But she has still found time to be a successful helpmate to her husband, and a devoted mother to five children, all of whom are active in Salvation Army work. While the standard work week for most people is 40 hours, Mrs. Anderson often spends more than 120 hours a week at her tasks. Her day begins at 6:30 a.m., when she arises to tidy her home and get her children on their busy ways. The remainder of the day is devoted to her religious activities. She often does not retire until after midnight. An ordained minister along with her husband, the two have been awarded a “long service” badge for 25 years of unbroken service. Her life as a Salvation Army worker began at an early age. Born in Porter, Minn., Mrs. Anderson was left motherless at 18 months. She was raised by a grandmother, and educated in Hendricks and Fergus Falls, Minn.

JOINED AT 14
She became a member of the Salvation Army Corps at the age of 14, and was commissioned a young people's sergeant major at 16. She attended the Salvation Army Training college for officers, and following her commission in 1928, she was assigned to Crookston, Minn. On Jan. 15, 1929, she was married to Captain Anderson of Mandan, N.D., and she began a life of travel and adventure in her work. Their first married home was near the Indian reservation at Mandan. There, due to the severe winters, they were called upon to assist the red men with food and clothing. Their first child, Edward Wallace, now an insurance agent at Grand Haven, was born at Hibbing, Minn. Moving there in 1930, the Andersons found the iron ore mines shut down, and the Hibbing Tribune exchanging subscriptions with the farmers for vegetables. The S.A. became a distribution point for clothing and vegetables. It was here that Mrs. Anderson gave away nearly all of her husband's clothes to the needy, for, she said, “I couldn't turn men away from the door, when they needed something to cover their bodies.”

DROUGHT YEARS
The workers also faced hard years when they moved to Jamestown, N.D., in 1933, during the drought years. There was no rain in four years. Mrs. Anderson recalled, and “we could see cattle drop and lay on the brown hills as we drove along.” There they carried on the regular corps program, maintaining a transient bureau for the government, when 400 men were served meals three times a day. Capt. Anderson was a case worker for the county. The family's next long move was to Cape Girardeau in southeast Missouri, where they were stationed for eight years. Mrs. Anderson said she helped her husband put out thousands of tomato, cabbage and green pepper plants in Victory gardens. In February, 1945, the Andersons moved to Superior, Wis., where their children were forced to wear pajamas for underclothing, because the latter was not available. From there they journeyed to Grand Haven, and eventually to Lansing in 1953, where they now live at 216 N. Butler blvd. During their officership, the Andersons have cared for more than 30 children in their homes, ranging in age from three weeks to 16 years.

OTHER CHILDREN
In addition to Edward, their other children are Thelma, who is employed at Michigan Bell Telephone Company; Eugene, a freshman at Michigan State university and an employee of Michigan State highway department; Carolyn, a senior at J.W. Sexton high school, and Gladys Gall, a fourth grade student at Michigan avenue school. Carolyn will graduate in June and leave for three months; Salvation Army training in Europe in July. Also making her home with the family is Mrs. Anderson's sister, Mill Thelma Eckness, who according to Mrs. Anderson, has been a “right hand helper.”