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1927-2007
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It is said that first impressions are lasting impressions, and Lois Anderson always made
a good first impression. Her obvious love of all people was seen in her beaming greeting
which always was with arms outstretched and a grin so broad that her eyes squinted almost
shut. You always got a big hug and a question about your family. Lois was a warm and
vivacious woman whose magnetic personality engaged all who knew her. Lois was
unfailingly optimistic and generous, but she knew that in a nation with poverty like
Sudan's where she spent so many years, you can't give a cup of sugar to everyone who
wants one. A gracious woman, she was able to say "no" without offending people. She
lived her Christian life as an example to all. Clearly Saint Lois, to me.
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Lois and her husband, Rev. Bill Anderson, were Presbyterian missionaries who moved to
South Carolina about 7 years ago, "retiring" following 49 years of mission service in
Africa - almost 37 of which were in Sudan ministry. Known to thousands of Africans as
"Mama Lois," she was killed with her daughter, Zelda White, in a carjacking in Kenya on
January 27th. The Andersons retired to Clinton, S.C in 2000 where they initially served
as Missionaries in Residence at Presbyterian College. Retired or not, both remained
tireless advocates for the people of Sudan. They were in Kenya for a family gathering
when the tragedy occurred.
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Bill Anderson was born in Egypt to missionary parents, while Lois was a native of
Pennsylvania. Bill and Lois married in 1951 and spent their honeymoon studying Arabic in
preparation for mission work in Sudan.
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As reported in the New York Times, having been missionaries in Africa since the 1950s,
Bill and Lois had survived a plane crash, dysentery, civil wars and countless close calls.
Bill lost an eye to disease. Then, on that fateful Saturday, according to news reports,
a group of four bandits in a stolen car pulled up next to the vehicle and, brandishing
AK-47 weapons, screamed at everyone to get out. The people in the backseat (Bill, another
daughter, and a grandson) quickly did, but for some reason, Lois, sitting in the passenger
seat, and Zelda, the driver, hesitated. The thugs shot them to death, threw their bodies
out of the car and drove off.
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Zelda, having raised and sent her children off to college, was in her third year of
seminary in Kenya.
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Both Lois and Zelda were buried at St. Paul Seminary near Nairobi, where Bill taught from
1959 to 1971 and where Zelda was a student. Reports indicated that a crowd of about 1,000
Africans attended the funeral. That is an indicator of the mark Lois left on this world.
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Trinity Presbytery has created a memorial fund, intended to help with funeral travel and
whatever missionary effort the family designates. Checks may be made out to Trinity
Presbytery, 554 DeVega Drive, Lexington, SC 29073, with "Lois Anderson Memorial Fund" in
the memo line.
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A family member may have expressed it best, "We cannot understand why God would allow this
tragedy. But we learned at the time of our son's death that it is not helpful to ask "Why?"
The right questions are: "What do You want me to learn from this? How can my ministry be
deepened and made more effective because of it?" Pray that all of us will find answers to
these questions, so that their deaths will bring us closer to Jesus.
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Bill Andress
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