Mike Anderson
The following Information was written prior to the Pig Bowl in August 2016…
Mike was born and raised in Hood River, Oregon. Mike ‘s dedication to serving his community began at the age of 16 when he became a student firefighter with the Hood River Fire Department. Right after graduation from Hood River Valley High School he chose to serve his country and joined the U.S. Air Force. He spent the next 8 years serving in the Air Force as an Ear, Nose, and Throat Technician at military hospitals. Those were the only years that he spent living away from Hood River and after that time away he was looking forward to returning to his home. He returned to Hood River in 2000.
He continued serving his community as a Reserve Deputy for the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office. He also joined the Westside Fire Department as a volunteer firefighter and assistant coordinator for the Student Fire Fighter program for the Hood River Valley.
Mike served as a Reserve Deputy for 6 years. During that time he obtained certification as a Marine Deputy and worked full time in the summer doing Marine Patrol. He spent the rest of his year working at the Hood River Valley High School; while spending weekends and evenings on patrol. During these years Mike also moved his grandmother up to Hood River from Bend to take care of her in her last few years.
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2007 was a big year, as it was the year that Mike got his dream job and was hired as the full time Marine Deputy in March. We were then married on his family’s Hood River property in June. Mike worked Marine patrol for many years and is now working road patrol. He is a Search and Rescue Coordinator as well as TASER and FST Instructor. Law enforcement is his passion and he has helped countless people during the last 16 years.
Mike’s wife Heidi also works for the Hood River County Sheriff’s Office and is a 911 Dispatcher & Training Coordinator. Together they have a son, Chase, who is 4 years old and has a special bond with Daddy. Mike also has a 21 year old daughter, Andrea, and a 7 month old granddaughter Olivia. Mike loves spending time with his kids.
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Mike had not been feeling well off and on starting in March 2016. On June 23, the day of our 9th wedding anniversary, we found out that he may have a tumor. On June 28th, the day after Chase’s 4th birthday, our worst fear was confirmed when Mike was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. A week later Mike underwent surgery to remove the tumor and determined that his cancer was Stage 3. After some time recovering from major surgery he had his first chemotherapy treatment on August 8th. He will now be having chemotherapy treatments for the next 6 months.
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Mike has been off work since July 1st. At this point we are not sure what the future holds as we are just starting out on this journey. Returning to work will depend greatly on how his chemotherapy treatments go and there are a lot of unknowns ahead. When Mike was a young child, his father died tragically in a car crash. We are told that colon cancer can be hereditary, but losing his father so early in life, we do not know much about family history. Regular screening for colon cancer is not recommended until age 50. Since Mike is younger than the average person with this disease, he had no way to know this was happening to him.
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Mike has spent his life giving to others; to his country, to his community, and to his family. Thank you for supporting us during this uncertain time.
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