St. Cloud pilot, 85, still has his wings

ST. CLOUD – Unlike the rest of the 59 people who graduated March 25 from American Airlines' flight attendant school in Fort Worth, Texas, Katie Anderson had her own uniformed presenter to pin on her wings.

It was an 85-year-old former pilot who fit easily into the same AA captain's uniform he wore when he retired a quarter-century ago.

It was Grandpa.

"I don't think I act 85," Andy Anderson said with a grin. "What bothers me most is when I see a picture — sometimes I don't recognize myself. I still see myself as much younger."

"He was definitely the oldest wing-pinner. Everyone thought it was so amazing," said granddaughter Katie Anderson, 22. "That we got to share that special moment really meant a lot to me."

It was a joyous occasion, courtesy of a guy who still makes an impact on a regular basis back in his hometown of St. Cloud.

"Andy is the type of person that would give you the shirt off his back," said Margaret Rice, who along with Anderson volunteers with the Step Force program at St. Cloud Hospital. "Very caring and giving."

He needs to stay fit. Anderson has a busy schedule, and he has tried to keep it that way since he retired in 1990 after nearly 34 years as an American Airlines pilot.

He is among the most active of St. Cloud Hospital's Step Force volunteers, working four-hour shifts up to six days every week.

"He has the energy level of a 30-year-old," said Megan Richert, volunteer program specialist at the hospital.

Since retirement, Anderson has remained an avid golfer. He's also been a skydiver, a volunteer pilot for Nomads Travel Club and the Wings of Mercy medical program, and a dedicated hospital volunteer.

This is a hard guy to slow down. Anderson likes it that way.

Anderson, born and raised in St. Cloud, grew up wanting to be a Navy pilot largely because of newsreels he saw at the movie theater during World War II.

"One of the most impressive things was guys taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier," he said. "That really hit me for some reason."

Anderson earned a Navy scholarship to Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., where he met his eventual wife, Barbara. They married in 1953 and lived in a variety of places (Boston, New York, Chicago, Fresno) while raising two children. Son Bill — Katie's father — is a cardiac surgeon in Fort Worth. Daughter Laura Bergstrom also lives in Texas.

After graduation, Anderson owed the Navy a few years of service before joining American in 1957. He flew everything from twin-prop Convair CV-240s to Boeing 767s in the next 34 years.

"While I was working, I felt like I never worked a day in my life," Anderson said. "It was like playing golf."

"I wouldn't have retired. I was still in very good health at age 60," Anderson said. "As I sat there at the gate when I finished my last flight at O'Hare, they had to come pry my hands off the yoke to get me out of there because I didn't want to go."

Andy and Barbara subsequently traveled the world as he remained active as a pilot in the Nomads and Wings of Mercy programs. But on May 4, 2008, Barbara died, from a stroke and of complications from lupus and a kidney transplant 18 years earlier.

"That was a big blow, because we had been married 55 years," Anderson said. "I didn't have much time to get used to that."

It was a loss that would have shut down a lot of 77-year-olds. Before long, it inspired Anderson to do new things.

Golf wasn't enough.

Volunteer work helped Anderson fill the void in his life.

"Most volunteers do one or two days a week," said Anderson, who sometimes works as many as six. "I started on three. What else am I going to do — dust the house? Vacuum or something?"

Instead, he walks 4 to 5 miles during almost every shift while helping visitors and patients and socializing with other volunteers.

"He's so personable," Richert said. "You really get the sense that he cares about you, even if it's just for five minutes as he's walking you down the hallway.

"He makes you feel right at home and comfortable, even in what can be a very scary situation."

"I can't hardly imagine it," he said. "It's like getting together with your buddies."

It also kept him in shape for his latest task.

Anderson was thrilled when his granddaughter was one of 60 selected from about 3,000 applicants to attend flight attendant school. He was doubly thrilled to participate in the graduation ceremony.

"She got her dad to call me," Anderson said. "Do you think Grandpa would come down and pin my wings on me?

"I said, 'Boy, I'd really be honored.' "

"He was so proud to fly down to Dallas and be part of the graduating ceremony," Rice said, "along with wearing his American Airlines uniform of 25 years ago."

"I was really impressed that he still fit into his suit," Katie Anderson said. "I hope I can do the same thing when I'm 85."

She was one of the first to get pinned, and it was a highlight of the ceremony.

Fifty-nine years earlier, Anderson had begun his American Airlines pilot's training in a building basically across the street.

"It's different generations, experiencing such a similar thing," Katie Anderson said. "I was really honored that he came all the way down just to pin on my wings."

"Not any time soon, no," he said. "I feel better doing it. You don't get your youth back, but you delay some of the ravages of old age."