Retired Mundelein business owner, volunteer dies just days after wife

A retired Mundelein paint store owner who was active with several community organizations in Lake County has died, just 13 days after his wife of nearly 75 years.

Robert W. “Bob” Anderson, 95, who lived for many years in Fox Lake but most recently was at an assisted living facility in McHenry, passed Monday. His wife, Vivian, 94, died April 16.

A 1946 Waukegan High School graduate, Anderson enlisted in the U.S. Army that year and served through 1948 as a clerk typist at a hospital in Michigan, said his daughter, Sharon Kohler. In 1949, he married the former Vivian M. Starr.

“They were high school sweethearts,” Kohler said.

While living in Waukegan, Anderson opened the Mundelein Paint Center at Hawley Street and Prospect Avenue in 1962. He ran the business until retiring in 1992.

In addition to operating the store, Anderson was a Boy Scout Leader, president for the Mundelein Rotary Club and president of the Mundelein Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, he was active with the Mundelein Art League and the Mundelein YMCA and was a longtime member of All Saints Lutheran Church in Fox Lake.

Anderson and his wife moved to Arkansas after he retired but they returned to Fox Lake, Kohler said.

At his wife’s recent funeral, Anderson said, “I’ll see you soon,” Kohler recalled.

“I didn’t think it would be this soon,” Kohler said.

Anderson’s other survivors include a son, four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

Visitation is scheduled to run from 5 to 7:30 p.m. Friday at Thompson Spring Grove Funeral Home, 8103 Wilmot Road, Spring Grove. A funeral is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday at the funeral home.

Interment will be private.