Charles K. Anderson

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Charles “Chuck” Olaf Kristian Anderson, 83, longtime resident and former Police Commissioner of Griffith, Indiana, and “ye olde” webmaster of The Old Corral B-Western movie website (b-westerns.com), on August 10, 2026. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, neighbor, and friend to many.

Chuck is survived by his children Craig Anderson, Mike (Claudia) Anderson, Laura (Jake Laird) Anderson, and Craig’s former spouse Paula Anderson. His grandchildren Ethan (Abbie Dobricky) Anderson, Lilly Anderson, Isabella Anderson, and Gabriel Anderson. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 55 years, Rose Marie (Mindock) Anderson, his parents Charles M. Anderson and Hazel Mildred (Fieldstad) Anderson, and his brother Walter D. Anderson.

In his early years, Chuck lived in New Jersey and Georgia before his family made their way to Indiana where he graduated from Highland High School in 1961 and played drums for his small-time sock-hop band “TheGamblers.” Not long after, he met, married, and started a family with the love of his life Rose; began his long career with AT&T (formerly Illinois Bell), where he was at the forefront of early email, internet, and PC adoption, and from which he retired in 1991; and proudly served in the United States Army National Guard from1966-1972, with honorable discharge as a Staff Sergeant.

In his free time, you could find him fishing or hunting at the cottage on Cook Lake in Plymouth, Indiana,spending time and travelling with the family (but always by car), boxing, golfing, building model trains, boats and planes, doing computer, yard, car, and house work, reading, watching old movies, listening to music,helping Rose tend her gardens, and always keeping up with the latest technologies of the day.

Chuck was a dedicated civic leader in the Griffith and Lake County communities. He sat on the Griffith Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals from 1972-1982, and Griffith Police Commission from 1993-2012. Due to his work with AT&T, he became the go to “computer guy” for everyone, setting up their PCs and troubleshooting when viruses hit or hard drives failed. He worked with the Northwest Indiana EducationalService Center (NWIESC) to teach early internet to school teachers, and volunteered, for many years,managing the first websites for the Town of Griffith, Griffith Police Department, as well as St. Mary Church and School. He was “the best neighbor” and a skilled jack-of-all-trades, able to fix anything. You’d often find him sitting in the garage with the door up having a smoke, ready to lend a hand, a tool, or some very thorough advice to whomever needed help.

Chuck had a long-standing love for the B-Western movies and serials of the 1930s and 40s, crediting the “Song of Old Wyoming” (1945), starring Eddie Dean and Lash LaRue, as his childhood favorite. Throughout the years, he amassed a collection of western movies, books, photos, and lobby cards, and in the 1980s, began writing articles for “Favorite Westerns” magazine. In 1998 he created what his family considers to be his magnum opus: his website, The Old Corral (b-westerns.com). With over 1,200 meticulously researched pages, Chuck humbly detailed the life and times of bygone western movie casts and crews, connecting with their families, and other western movie fans and historians along the way, many of which became his longtime and long-distance friends.

When old age crept up on him more recently, he spent most of his time at home visiting with family, working on his website, reading the latest news, watching Hallmark movies, and jamming out to music (“I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow - Live” by Alison Krauss & Union Station being one of his highly recommended favorites). “Papa Chuck,” as many knew him, will be remembered as a fiercely intelligent, kind, proactive, and generous husband and family man, with a great sense of humor, and a steadfast love for his morning coffee with a chocolate frosted donut from Dunkin Donuts (the cake kind, not the other kind).

One of the greats has made his final ride off into the sunset. As Chuck would say,“keep smiling.”

For Chuck’s full biography, visit: https://b-westerns.com/chuckbio.htm

Friends may meet with the family on Saturday, August 29, 2026 at White Funeral Home (921 W. Glen Park Ave., Griffith, IN) from 12-4pm with a prayer service by Father Mens at 4pm, and private committal at Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville, Indiana.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in support of Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library whose mission is to provide free, universal access to humanity’s knowledge and resources. Please visit our GoFundMe page for more details on how to donate: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chuck-anderson-memorium

Please contact White Funeral Home at (219) 924-4100 or https://www.whitefuneralhomeofgriffith.com for any additional information.