Law School Mourns the Death of Former Minnesota Governor Wendell Anderson (’60)
Wendell “Wendy” Anderson (’60), whose term as governor in the 1970s was marked by landmark legislation known as the “Minnesota Miracle” and by his appearance on an iconic Time magazine cover, has passed away at the age of 83. He had suffered with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years, and died July 17 of pneumonia at Our Lady of Peace hospice in St. Paul. Memorial service preparations are pending.
In a statement, his family called Anderson “a kid from East St. Paul. A Gopher. An Olympian. An elected public servant of the highest order. But above all else he was a Minnesotan. His love for the state and its citizens was second only to his love for his family.”
Born to Swedish immigrant parents in 1933, Anderson attended the University of Minnesota on a hockey scholarship and played on the 1956 U.S. Olympic hockey team, which won a silver medal at Cortina, Italy. In 1958, while enrolled at the Law School, the young Democrat was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives, where he served two terms. In 1962, he was elected to the Minnesota Senate, where he served until his election as governor in 1970.
“As a legislator and as governor, he was always the working man’s friend, and he never forgot where he came from,” former Minnesota Attorney General Warren Spannaus (’63) told the Forum News Service. “All his actions were directed at helping the common person. Personally, he was as good and kind and helpful a friend as anybody will ever find.”
As governor, said the New York Times, Anderson “pushed through an overhaul of school aid and taxes that became known as the ‘Minnesota miracle.’ In a special legislative session that stretched more than five months past normal deadlines, Anderson outmaneuvered the conservative-dominated legislature by rejecting an alternate tax plan he called ‘the old way of doing things.’ The victory gave him latitude to pursue Democratic priorities such as environmental safeguards, a minimum wage increase, and programs for housing, seniors, and drug abuse.” The Star Tribune called the bipartisan tax deal, which equalized school funding between rich and poor districts, a “symbol of government that works.”
Anderson made the cover of Time on Aug. 13, 1973, smiling broadly while hoisting a northern pike on a stringer. The cover line was “The Good Life in Minnesota,” and the magazine became an instant collector’s item in the state.
In later years, Anderson practiced law, served as a longtime member of the University of Minnesota Board of Regents, and was appointed Honorary Consul of Sweden in Minnesota. Always physically active, he played hockey into his 70s. He is survived by two brothers, Rod and Orv; a son, Brett; two daughters, Amy Anderson and Elizabeth Crow; and five grandchildren.
