COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus residents shared accolades and respect for long-time Columbus businessman Frank Anderson, who died at the age of 77.
The staff at St. Bartholomew Catholic Church learned of Anderson’s death Thursday morning, a spokeswoman said. Anderson’s health had been gradually deteriorating over the last few years, the Rev. Clem Davis said.
The owner of the former Frank Anderson Tire Co. at 23rd Street and Hawcreek Avenue – from 1971 until he sold it to Best-One Tire & Service in 2019 – was best known for his generosity, as well as the example he set for others, his friends said.
“Why don’t we all just spread a little Frank around amongst ourselves and do the right thing?” asked Dennis Brooks of Elizabethtown in a letter of tribute published in The Republic last January.
When Brooks was in his teens, Anderson refused to let him leave his shop with two dangerously worn tires on his car, the letter stated. Even though the high school student couldn’t afford them, Anderson replaced them anyway and allowed Brooks to pay him at a rate of $5 a week, he added.
For Brooks, who stated that his life was in turmoil at the time, Anderson’s kindness lifted his spirits and showed he cared more about the teen than himself. Brooks concluded the letter by thanking Anderson for being his friend.
A similar sentiment about Anderson was expressed by another successful Bartholomew County businessman.
“Frank was the kind of businessman we should all try to be,” Force Construction Co. Chairman and CEO Harold Force said.
When Anderson, a Peru native and his wife, Carol Ann, moved to Columbus to open their own Firestone Tire franchise in 1971, the couple understood what it took to successfully launch a new business, Force said.
“Frank became popular by building relationships with farmers, trucking companies and retailers,” Force said. “He also earned the respect of his customers, no matter who they were. Whatever burdens he may have been carrying on the personal side of his life, he remained upbeat, positive, driven and wanting to help. Not everybody can do that.”
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
