Bill Andersen was only with us for 62 years, but in that time, he lived three lifetimes. Bill always aimed high. As a young man, he was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point where he was the head of the honor committee during the 1976 West Point cheating scandal and received the Cleland Leadership Award. Bill went on to serve in the U.S. Army commanding infantry units in the 101st Airborne Division and Second U.S. Infantry Division in Korea. After his military service, he earned his J.D. at Vanderbilt University School of Law where he was Senior Managing Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. He later received his LL.M. in Estate Planning at the University of Miami School of Law.
While working as an associate attorney at his first firm, he met his supervisor and future wife, Jane Loomis Andersen. Bill and Jane began sailing in their free time, and soon had their son Will. Shortly after, he began his political career in Washington DC, and served under Secretary of Labor, Elizabeth Dole. Afterwards he returned to Tennessee where he ran for US Senate.
Post political career Bill and Jane opened The Andersen Firm, and grew the firm together into a multi-state firm with operations spanning from Florida to New York. He practiced law with a passion for 34 years. Bill was a member of the Union League Club and the Anglers’ Club of New York. He is a Trustee of the Bonefish Tarpon Trust and American Museum of Fly Fishing. Bill and his son own South Holston River Lodge, an Orvis endorsed fly fishing lodge, in the Smoky Mountains. Bill was the lead author of The Pocket Guide to Trusts & Estates: Understanding Estate Planning, Estate Settlement, Estate Litigation, Asset Protection, and Elder Law.
In his free time, he became a pilot, was coronated as king of Fantasyfest in Key West, FL due to his charitable work, a fly fisherman, a lover of Cuba, and a humanitarian.
Bill worked hard, played hard, and loved harder.
He is preceded in death by his parents John W. Andersen and Betty Hammer Andersen. Bill is survived by his wife Jane Andersen (Kingsport, TN), and son Will Andersen (New York, NY). Also surviving are his sisters Adrienne Andersen (Johnson City, TN) and Karen Arnold (Tampa, FL).
“They are not long, the days of wine and roses: Out of a misty dream Our paths emerges for a while, then closes Within a dream.”
