r By Beehive Homes
Every community has people in it that make it great. I’m talking about salt-of-the-earth kinda people. Join us as each month as we highlight one of our own longtime members of the community.rLottie Lou Anderson was born to Frank and Geniveve Richardson Lundell in January of 1930 in Benjamin, Utah, in the front room of her home. “The only way we could stay warm at night was to heat bricks, wrap them in newspaper and place them at the foot of our bed, under heavy wool blankets,” Lottie said. She grew up like many Benjamin residents — farming. Her father Frank Lundell owned 500 acres in Benjamin. He raised cattle, grew a variety of vegetables including grain and every other thing you can imagine. When Lottie Lou was young, her main job during harvest season was to ride the derrick horse. “My dad put me on the horse when I was very young – I had to ride the derrick horse while it pulled the rope to run the pulley to stack the hay into huge piles. I don’t know if my dad was trying to keep me out of the way so I wouldn’t get hurt, but I rode that horse up until the day I married and left home,” she said.rLottie married Clair Anderson in 1951. After her father passed away, Lottie and Clair continued to oversee and run the farm. Clair quickly became a well-known farmer in the region, serving on the Strawberry Users Board for many years. He and Lottie would travel to many farms in the region helping farmers with irrigation and water rights. Lottie supported Clair in his many duties including serving in the LDS Church as a bishop twice, as a stake president and in many other callings. “One time, we were invited to a church social and I was asked to bring hot rolls. I had no real cooking experience, I was a newlywed and when I was young my mother would do all the cooking — she loved to cook. She had passed away a year earlier, or I’d had her help me or do it for me. So I had to figure it out on my own. I went to the market and bought a large bag of flour and went to baking. I baked all day long making so many rolls, I had to freeze most of them so they didn’t go to waste. I was so scared of what my rolls would taste like or if anyone would like them that I didn’t even taste them myself. I think they must have liked them because I was asked to bake at almost every social from then on,” she said.rLottie has three sons, Wayne, Kevin and Neil, and one daughter, LuAnn. The boys continue to run the farm today and are third-generation farmers in the Benjamin area. Lottie is now long retired; she lives at Beehive Homes Assisted Living in Payson. She is enjoying the quiet life. “I really love the people that work here, they are such good cleaners, the home is so clean. The other day one of them was cleaning above the door casing in my room – I don’t think I have ever cleaned above a door casing,” she said.rThank you Lottie Lou for being kind, loving and generous and making our community great. We recognize you for the great family you have raised and for serving our community in every way you could to make life enjoyable for those around you.rTo contact Lottie Lou, you may visit or write “Care of Lottie Lou Anderson,” 661 E. 100 South, Payson, UT 84651.
