Four Generations of the Anderson Family will be Grand Marshals of Pioneer Day Parade

By Sally Jack
Contribting Writer
Four generations – all in one family – will serve as Grand Marshals in the 2025 Pioneer Day Parade on Saturday, July 26.
Robert, Daniel, Reed, and Clark Anderson are honored to be invited to lead the parade as Grand Marshals but reply, “We’re just ordinary people. There are thousands of people in this county, and they all have a story to tell. That’s what it makes it fun. We all have a story to tell.”
The Andersons story goes back to Robert’s dad, who really liked trains. That love has been passed down from father to son for five generations, until it has become a family tradition: A tradition that combines trains and baseball.
Every other year, Robert and his eight children take a trip by train to watch baseball games.
Spouses and grandkids may come along if they like, and sometimes they do, but there are two rules that every participant must follow:
(1) You have to have a pleasant disposition the entire time, and
(2) You have to do whatever Robert’s son Sam tells you to do (because he is the trip organizer).
Robert Anderson – The First Generation
At age 96, Robert Anderson is the patriarch of the clan and one of the oldest people in Monticello. Yet he’s not stuck in the past.
Robert owns and uses a smart phone, and he is still a board-certified licensed lawyer even though he is not actively practicing now.
If the Anderson Family was a train, Robert would be the engine, leading the way when he moved to Monticello in 1954.
Fresh out of law school at the University of Utah, Robert planned to begin his career in Moab, until Donald Adams talked Robert into coming to Monticello where his skills and talents as a lawyer were much needed.
He has been a blessing to the community ever since. In Monticello, Robert and his wife Madge raised a large family of eight children, including two girls and six boys, along with a large garden to feed them all.
During the ten-year period that Robert served as a Stake President in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the boundaries changed three times. When he started his service, the stake included Moab, Monticello and Blanding.
In 1974 the San Juan Stake was renamed the Monticello Utah Stake and Moab became a stake of its own. Blanding and Monticello continued to be one stake for four more years before Blanding and Monticello became separate stakes in 1978.
President Anderson led the church unit through all of that history, and continued to serve in many other ways upon his release from that calling.
Daniel – The Second Generation
When Daniel Anderson was ready to settle down with his family into a permanent community after completing his schooling at the University of Utah and then the Brigham Young University Law School and passing the Bar Exam, he had a variety of options.
One day his wife Sue asked him, “Are all the stories you told me about growing up in Monticello really true, or were they just stories?”
Daniel said yes, the stories were true. And Sue said, “Then that’s the place I want to raise our kids. That’s the kind of experience I want our kids to have.”
Daniel and his wife Sue moved to Monticello in 1992, where they raised their eight children.
Daniel coached Little League Baseball for ten or eleven years. He spent about three years coaching high school baseball, and he coached youth soccer for the Monticello City leagues for ten years.
He was on the city recreation committee for 15 years, and is currently on the Board of Directors for the Monticello Parents Recreation Association. Daniel spends many hours making his famous homemade ice cream to sell at the Association’s concession stand at the Pioneer Day festivities.
It’s hard to say how many cups of Vanilla, Banana Cream, Oreo, and Raspberry ice cream he has made to sell as a fundraiser for the youth recreation program, but you can bet it’s a big freezer full every year!
Daniel’s muffins are as legendary as his ice cream. Feeding hungry kids is one of the things he does best. For a time, he had a reputation among the youth in the community as ‘The Muffin Man.’
Daniel relates, “We didn’t care who showed up at our house for any meal — breakfast, lunch, or dinner — or for a place to sleep, so kids would show up for breakfast or lunch and we would just feed whoever was there.
Sometimes I’d get up in the morning and there’d be a whole pile of kids from La Sal who had spent the night sleeping on the floor in our living room. And we’d just feed them all.
I had a whole list of breakfast menus on the fridge that I’d rotate through, and sometimes a kid would point to something on the menu and say, ‘Can we have that for breakfast tomorrow?’ and I’d fix it. But I think they all liked my muffins the best.”
Daniel continues, “I thought about writing a book titled ‘101 Things for Breakfast,’ but I never got around to it.”
That’s probably because he was too busy making muffins. “I’ve made over 10,000 muffins in my life,” he says.
It’s safe to say that Daniel and Sue have spent a large portion of their life serving in the Boy Scouts of America. Daniel has served in virtually every scouting position there is, from den leader to District Commissioner.
One of his favorite things to do was take a group of local boys back east to the National Jamboree, which is held every four years. Daniel went to the Jamboree as a leader three times.
It’s a pretty big commitment. There’s a lot of preparation and fundraising that goes into getting the young men ready for the trip.
“We’d start two years in advance,” said Daniel. “It is at least a two-year project each time.”
Once the big day arrived, Daniel and other local leaders spent their time with the youth 24 / 7 for three weeks.
For Daniel, the really fun part about the Jamboree trip was watching people interact with kids from San Juan County. “They would be blown away with what these kids could do,” said Daniel.
“They worked hard, they played hard (even in the rain), and they knew how to do things. They were obedient, polite, pleasant and kind and they couldn’t help but stand out from the crowd in a good way.
“From city officials to bus drivers to Jamboree staff members who live in New York, they all had one question. ‘Who are these kids? Where do you come from?’
“And the answer was always the same: ‘We’re from southeastern Utah.’
“Southeastern Utah raises great kids. They’re just good kids,” Daniel says, “and I loved watching people from all over discover that.”
Reed – The Third Generation
While Daniel is the youngest of eight children in his family, Reed is the oldest of eight children in his family.
Reed was born in Salt Lake City but his family moved to Monticello just in time for him to begin Kindergarten at Monticello Elementary School.
He graduated from Monticello High School and served a Spanish-speaking mission in Honduras for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Reed earned an Associate degree at Snow College, a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Science Teaching and Chemistry at Brigham Young University, and a Master’s in Business Administration at Western Governors University, an accredited online school with headquarters in Millcreek, UT.
Upon graduating, Reed began teaching high school. After eight or nine years of teaching at larger schools such as West Lake in Saratoga Springs, Copper Hills in West Jordan, and Juab High in Nephi, Reed received an invitation to teach at Monticello High School. Though he loved everywhere he had taught, he “took the challenge and came home.”
At MHS he teaches Chemistry, Physics, Earth Systems, Eighth Grade Science, Astronomy, Geology, and beginning last year, a new class, Unmanned Arial Systems (drones).
Coaching high school football is a challenge that keeps Reed busy, along with all the other school activities that go along with teaching in a rural school.
“You just do what you need to do,” says Reed. “If a class has an activity, you gotta be there. But I don’t mind. Eight kids in my family went through the school system here, and so many people helped us through the years.
“A lot of people dedicated their time to me, and now it’s my turn to pay it back, to do that for others. That’s the good thing about this community. We help each other.”
Reed and his wife Kiersten have three children: Sophia, Clark, and Juliette.
Clark – The Fourth Generation
Clark is the caboose in the Anderson Family Grand Marshal Train. At an early age, he is learning to serve the community in true Anderson fashion.
For the past month he has been getting up early in the morning to help his dad Reed bag all the ice they will need for the high school concession stand at the county fair. Clark is good at math, is filled with facts, and likes to do Minecraft.
Connie Adams, who works as a secretary for the Andersons wrote:
“You’ve probably heard the saying, ‘If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.’
“For several years I have had the privilege of associating with the Andersons and doing what I love. They are patient and kind.
“They see the good in people and in situations. I respect and admire them. Their friendship blesses my life.
“They love this area and the people who live here. They serve with a willing heart and lift those around them.
“They face their challenges head on and find joy in a purposeful life. They are examples of integrity and hard work.
The Andersons love riding the train, jeeping in the back country, baseball games and homemade ice cream. Their rich legacy will continue with each new generation.”