Dana Anderson, 81, of Waterloo, died Monday, April 28, 2025, at Mayo Clinic St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. He was born August 24, 1943, in Waterloo, son of Reece and Mary (Koweil) Anderson. He graduated from Waterloo East High School.
Dana married Judith Vogt on June 6, 1964, at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Evansdale. From there the young couple started on their life's adventure. Dana enlisted in the US Navy, and they moved to Oakland California where Dana received electronics training from the Navy. He then served two tours in Vietnam as an electronics technician on the USS Wiltsie. He also played trumpet in the Navy band and was a drum major.
After his service Dana worked at various companies until being hired by Waterloo Fire Rescue. He was among the first group of EMT's for WFR. He was proud of his work, but suffered a heart attack at 37, and had to retire from the department. After that he worked at Reed Cadillac Honda and later worked for Life Investors.
Dana and Judy were members of St. Edward Catholic Church. He enjoyed spending his time walleye fishing, pheasant and deer hunting, garage sales, and puzzles. He was very close to his children and grandchildren, and treasured his adventures with Judy, especially traveling. He was happiest driving his boat and was very particular about his lawn. Dana also loved watching football and his teams, the Dallas Cowboys and Notre Dame. If you saw him anywhere, he was probably wearing their attire.
Dana is survived by his wife of 60 years, Judy; his sons: Darren Anderson of Chicago, and Noel (Heather) Anderson of Waterloo; his daughter, Traci (Jason) Brustkern of Waterloo; grandchildren: AnnMarie, Ashley, Danielle, Brayden, Sabrina, Brett, Cael, Storm, Coral and Pearl; great-grandson, Bryson; and brother, Jon Anderson of Waterloo.
He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Georgia Anderson, Judith Anderson, and Barbara Paine; brother, James Anderson; and daughter-in-law, Li Li Anderson.
A visitation will take place Friday, May 2, 2025, from 4:00-7:00 at Locke at Tower Park, 4140 Kimball Ave, with a Vigil at 6:30. Memorial Mass will be held at St. Edward Church at 11:00 am, Saturday May 3, with visitation one hour prior to the service. Mass will be livestream on www.sted.org. Memorials may be directed to Mayo Clinics, or Waterloo Fire Rescue Greg Freshwater Memorial Scholarship.