In Memory of

Philip

Axel

Andersen

Obituary for Philip Axel Andersen

Philip A. Andersen sadly passed at the age of 87 on April 18, 2023 at HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire, WI after a brief illness.  Phil was born to Marinus and Selma on March 25, 1936 in Minneapolis, MN. Phil graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1955.  He then joined the United States Navy right after high school.  He served on board the USS Valley Forge CV-45 for two of those years.  Phil worked over 40 years with American Greetings Corporation.  Phil received many awards including lifetime pacesetter award for high performance, motivation and influence. He had many titles as he moved up the ranks there including Sales Representative, Account Manager, Retail Merchandising Supervisor, and Territory Sales Manager.

Phil is survived by his ex-wife Deanna; children: Jane Andersen, Steven (Shelly) Andersen, Karen Andersen; grandchildren: Stephanie (David) Ahonen, Monika Jones, Amanda Garner, Christopher Andersen, and Kristina (Brian) Ney; great-grandchildren: Colton, David, Beaudon, Natalie, Shay, Waylon, Jaxsyn, Jordy, Kinley, Henry and Kyson.  He is also survived by life-long friends Helen Olson, Ed Janes, Dick Rasmussen, and Bill (Willie) Gronberg.

Phil was preceded in death by his parents Marinus and Selma, and granddaughter Sarah Koenigseker.

Phil loved his foreign cars.  He attended British car shows with his Jensen Interceptor. He brought home many trophies and made lots of friends at the shows.  Phil also was a snow bird in the winters down to Sun City, Arizona in a retirement community where he liked to go sightseeing with Helen. He took daily walks and made many stops along the way to talk with his friends, so a 15-minute walk could easily take two hours.  Phil loved to travel.  A couple of his favorite memories were an Alaskan Cruise where he called Steven (son) while standing on a glacier, and in 1986, Phil attended a 6-day “Tiger Cruise” on Stevens’ Aircraft Carrier USS Ranger CV-61 sailing from Vancouver, Canada to homeport San Diego (Coronado), CA.

A celebration of life and memorial to honor Phil will be held at a later date in time.