A. Richard Anderson, Shriners Hospital for Children

Best Housing Residence (2004) 

Winner: Misericordia Heart of Mercy  
Received by: Marge Murphy, Co-coordinator of Development, Misericordia Heart of Mercy

About A. Richard Anderson:
A. Richard Anderson of Lisle, Illinois, has served as Chairman of the Board of Governors of Shriners Hospitals for Children, Chicago, on the far Northwest Side of the city, for nearly three years.

In 1980, he was part of a group that began the Medinah Aviators, a group of Shriner pilots and aviation enthusiasts charged with the transportation of burned children from the Chicago area to the Shriners Burns Hospital in Cincinnati. Originally, United Airlines had flown burned children to the hospital, but the stares of other passengers made such flights emotionally difficult for the young patients. The first patient Anderson flew was a six-month-old baby who had fallen into a hot bath. After noting that the child did not cry despite his injuries, Anderson gradually learned to defeat his fears of seeing children in pain. His commitment to flying these children eventually led a Chairman of the Board at Shriners, Chicago, to ask Anderson to help direct the Chicago hospital.  Anderson's business skills have helped the hospital to maintain its commitment to providing care to all children without charge to patients, parents, the government or insurers. Anderson has also served on the boards of the Salvation Army Advisory Committee and St. Paul's House, Chicago, a churchly home for the aged.

His wife, Barbara, supports Dick's commitment to Shriners and also volunteers regularly at the Morton Arboretum.