U.S. Navy SEAL, LTCMDR (Ret.) Eric B. Anderson 1943-2022

U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. (ret.) Eric Blair Anderson, 79, died at his home in Ubatuba, Brazil, where he lived with his wife, Manuela. Eric was born in Blue Hill, ME, on February 2, 1943. He died on October 12, 2022, of complications from a fall.

Except for 1952-61, when he lived in East Bridgewater, MA, Eric lived on, in or near the ocean for the rest of his life. From Blue Hill, his family moved to Bath, ME, and later spent summer 1954 on Cuttyhunk Island, MA.

Eric’s preparation for a naval career began at age 8 with swim lessons at the Brockton, MA, YMCA. As a camper, then lifeguard and swim teacher, he spent seven summers at Royal Ambassador Camp, Ocean Park, ME, where the outdoor swimming pool filled with ocean water at high tide and emptied at low tide.

Eric graduated from East Bridgewater High School in 1961.

In his senior year, he was Captain of the EBHS Cross-country team and Co-captain of the Track team. At one point, he held the EBHS one-mile record.

After high school, Eric briefly attended two colleges, worked in a CA gypsum mine, hitchhiked to Mexico to learn Spanish, and drove a Checker cab in Boston.

Following two years in the Navy Reserves, Eric went on active duty. Waiting for a ship assignment, he was invited to apply for Underwater Demolition Team training. In 1967, he was certified as a UDT Diver. As a Navy “frogman,” he served three years on active duty with an Amphibious Forces Underwater Demolition Team.

On March 13, 1969, Boatswains Mate Second Class Anderson led one of three frogman teams trained to recover the returning Apollo 9 astronauts after they splashed down in the Atlantic. As NASA said at the time, “The goal of the Apollo 9 10-day earth orbital spaceflight is to give the moon lander its initial test with men at the controls. The key to the trial will be a complicated rendezvous operation between the lunar lander and the command ship.” Apollo 9 prepared for the successful Apollo 11 landing of a man on the moon in July 1969.

His enlistment completed, Eric earned an A.B. degree at Virginia’s Old Dominion University. At the Navy’s urging, he rejoined the Navy to attend Officers Candidate School, graduating in 1972.

By then, Underwater Demolition Teams had been renamed the SEALs. Sea, Air, and Land Teams, known as Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy’s primary special operations force and a component of the Naval Special Warfare Command. As he told his family early on, “At some point I am not going to be able to tell you what I am doing.”

He finished his naval career in London on the staff of the commander of U.S. Naval forces in Europe, retiring in 1989 as a Lieutenant Commander.

It was in London that he met his wife, Manuela, who survives him.

He is survived as well by his former wife, Judith Corrin; and by their two daughters, Britta K. Anderson of Florida, and Laura C. Anderson of Maine; as well as two grandsons, Nico and Kasen. Other survivors include his sisters, Astrid Dodds of Cambridge, MA, and Ingrid Whitman of Clinton, MA; a nephew, and cousins in Massachusetts, Florida, and Washington.

Eric was predeceased by his parents, Rev. Arvid L. and Ruth Anderson of the Elmwood section of East Bridgewater, and later, Avon and Wareham, MA.

In 1991, Eric and Manuela bought a boat in Maine and sailed it to Miami, FL, where they lived and worked for 15 years. In 2006, they moved to Manuela’s native country, Brazil, and settled in Ubatuba where Eric enjoyed ocean swimming and worked on mastering Portuguese.

At Eric’s request, his ashes will be scattered in the ocean off Brazil. No memorial service is planned.

Donations in Eric B. Anderson’s memory may be made to the Old Colony YMCA, 320 Main Street, Brockton, MA 02301, or online at www.oldcolonyymca.org/donate or to the charity of the donor’s choice.

For a complete obituary and to leave a message of condolence, please visit www.keefefuneralhome.com