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L. Gene Anderson, 80

L. Gene Anderson, 80, died October 13, 2018, at his home in Wilmington, NC, after a brief illness. Originally from Marshalltown, Iowa, he was a graduate of the Marshalltown High School class of ’56.

Gene began his career in journalism as a young reporter in Iowa in the 1950’s. He began as a sports reporter at the Times Republican and moved to work in Spencer, Iowa. He then moved up to working for the Sioux City Journal. It was there that he was assigned to interview both Richard Nixon and John Kennedy during the 1960 presidential campaign. Gene often said that unique opportunity sparked a lifelong, unrelenting interest in politics and that Vice-President Nixon personally inspired him to take an active role in the political arena. Just four years later, he was aboard the Barry Goldwater presidential campaign as campaign manager for western Iowa. That job led to another campaign management opportunity on behalf of Republican Congressman Bo Callaway who ran for governor of Georgia in 1966.

In 1967, the political trail led to North Carolina where Gene served as the first-ever executive director of the state Republican Party and as state campaign manager for the 1968 Nixon presidential campaign. In 1972, he headed the successful gubernatorial campaign of Jim Holshouser, the first Republican to win the executive mansion in the twentieth century. Gene continued to work with Governor Holshouser as a top assistant for the next four years.

Political leaders and public interest groups continued to call on Gene’s leadership and skills. He became vice president for governmental affairs at the Huntsville, Alabama, Chamber of Commerce. His success in that post caught the attention of Alabama Governor Guy Hunt, for whom he served as chief of staff.

Gene also took his talent and energy into the business world, succeeding in sales, advertising and real estate. In the 1990’s, he and his wife, Bobbie, founded their highly successful venture, Sun Spots Realty in Topsail, North Carolina.

Gene is survived by his wife of 37 years, Bobbie; by daughters Debbie Anderson, of Boca Raton, FL, Jana Cornejo (Albert), of Riverside, CA, and stepson Eric Rufa, of Asheville, NC; brother David Anderson, of Tucson, AZ and by his political family members, far and wide.

There will be a graveside service on May 21, 2019, 11:00 am at Riverside Cemetery.

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