BRADENTON, Fla. - Former Atlanta Chief Financial Officer Rick Anderson died Feb. 1 at his home in Gainesville, Fla. of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.
Anderson, 66, will be remembered during a public memorial service at 2:30 p.m. Saturday Feb. 25 at Atlanta City Hall.
Anderson spent more than 30 years in city’s finance department, where “his financial acumen and devotion to Atlanta won him many friends and immeasurable respect,” city officials said.
His career began in 1972 as an accounting assistant for Atlanta, and from there he held a variety of positions including director of budget and management analysis, deputy commissioner of the finance department and CFO.
Anderson left City Hall in the early 1990s and spent several years as director of financial services for the Atlanta Regional Commission.
In 2002, he returned to head the finance transition team for then Mayor Shirley Franklin, and again became CFO under her administration.
During his tenure, he restructured the city’s budget process and managed the issuance of $640 million in bonds for improvements to Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, officials said.
Anderson also served on the Atlanta Olympics Organizing Committee and the Georgia State University Foundation board. He received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in public administration at GSU.
Anderson retired in 2004, the same year he was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, according to his obituary in the Gainesville Sun. He had been active in research studies for a cure.
He is survived by his wife, Barbara, sisters Clarice Helfand of Vero Beach, Fla., and Eileen Stephens of Gainesville, Fla., and brother Bob Anderson of Decatur, Ga.
Donations in his name can be made to Matheson Museum, 513 E. University Avenue, Gainesville, Fla., 32601 or to the ALS Association Florida Chapter Walk to Defeat ALS - Team Rick, 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, Fla., 33619-0907.
