Dennis Robert Anderson, Ph.D.

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Anderson, Dennis Robert, Ph.D. 71, died in Cologne, Germany on November 22, 2017, after a brief illness. He was born July 28, 1946, in Ada, Minnesota and raised in Moorhead and Appleton, Minnesota. Summertime was spent at family lake cabins, first at Floyd Lake with Midthune cousins next door, and then Battle Lake. Dennis graduated from Appleton High School in 1964, and then attended Hamline University in St. Paul. The summer of 1966 he spent in Germany, where he worked as a soda jerk at an American military base in Wiesbaden. He also attended a German language institute at Hofstra University on Long Island, New York. He graduated from Hamline in 1968 with the Bridgman Prize in history and with honors in German. In 1968 he studied German literature at the University of Bonn under the auspices of the Fulbright Commission, and after that attended the State University of New York at Buffalo with a four-year graduate scholarship. While there he worked as a German teaching assistant, except for the third year, 1971-72, which he spent on an academic exchange program at the University of Cologne. In 1974 he received a DAAD fellowship (the German equivalent of a Fulbright) to attend the University of Stuttgart and to research and write his doctoral dissertation. He received his M.A. in 1971 and his Ph.D. in 1975 in German Language and Literature from the University at Buffalo. He then took a position as lecturer in American Studies at the University of Tübingen and in 1982 a similar position at the University of Stuttgart. Dennis had enjoyed giving a lecture series and a seminar in Tübingen on American folk music and also one on Bob Dylan. He turned the Dylan lectures into a book in the early 1980s. The title, The Hollow Horn: Bob Dylan's Reception in the United States and Germany, is in collections at the Library of Congress, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other noted locations. The Minnesota Historical Society received a copy when they became the keepers of Dennis' Dylan collection in the late 1980s. Dennis also published several articles and textbook chapters on various subjects related to American literature and history. He became a regular guest lecturer for the Bavarian Teacher Academy for Continuing Education and for the America Houses in Germany. Late in 1979 Dennis helped host the visit of the poet, Allen Ginsberg, in Tübingen, which included acting as the on-stage translator at Ginsberg's poetry reading. About the same time he met Klaus "Al" Lenk, who would become his partner in 1980. Dennis and Al moved to San Francisco in 1983, and then to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1984. Dennis was employed for nearly 23 years with The Toro Company in Bloomington, Minnesota where he was a commercial sales analyst and then manager of analysis and reporting in operations, logistics, and order services. He was proud of the job he did as project manager in putting a self-service order management system on Toro's website for business customers. Upon retirement, Dennis and Al and their friend and partner Rick Stackley, who had joined the family in 2004, moved to Cologne, Germany where they have lived since 2009. Dennis was fluent in German and had working knowledge of French, Norwegian, and Russian. His appetite for music knew no boundaries, and his most recent interest was Alpine fusion. He kept meticulous track of his vast music collection using an Access database. His intelligence, kindness, wit and charm were evident to all who knew him. He is survived by his Cologne family, Al Lenk and Rick Stackley, and his siblings Earl (Rusty) Anderson, Jr., Alexandria, MN; Gail Ireland, Minneapolis, MN; Linda Howard, Renville, MN; and Laurie Anderson, Rapid City, SD. He will be dearly missed by his lifelong friends Dan Bennett and Jack Jackson, his aunt Shirley, his nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends worldwide. He was preceded in death by his parents Earl R. and Alma Anderson, and his beloved dog Bessie. Dennis will be buried in the Ostfriedhof Koln (East Cemetery) in Cologne, Germany. Graveside services are planned. Memorials may be directed to the Pride Foundation Scholarship Fund and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra.

Published on December 3, 2017