Frank `Andy'' Anderson, 62, Chronicled Bellevue In Photos

If it lived, breathed - or even stopped breathing - in Bellevue, Frank M. "Andy" Anderson knew about it.

As the city's first official photographer, he spent 18 years chronicling events and people in Washington's fourth-largest urban area. Births, deaths, fires, weddings, holidays and crime scenes achieved a kind of immortality before his lens.

Ten years prior to that, as a police officer walking the beat, and then as a captain, he kept the citizenry in line.

"Every City Council member, mayor, police or fire chief was photographed by Frank," said his son, Steve Anderson of Kent. "If anything was happening, Dad and his Hasselblad (camera) were there."

Mr. Anderson died of cancer Tuesday, Dec. 17. He was 62.

Photography was a lifelong passion for the Seattle native. As a boy he hiked or went snowshoeing in the mountains, camera in hand.

After graduating from Lincoln High School in 1952, he joined the Navy and did reconnaissance photography while based on Okinawa.

Mr. Anderson joined the Bellevue Police Department in 1956. His first beat was Main Street, the heart of old Bellevue. He worked up to captain and resigned in 1967.

"He was to become the city of Bellevue photographer," said his son. "He created the job and had a lab in City Hall."

Mr. Anderson did a lot of aerial photography, covered fire scenes and traveled to other cities to document fire damage as part of arson investigations.

About this time he also grew his trademark handlebar mustache and began wearing berets and other hats from his collection. He also cut a dashing figure driving to jobs in his black 1968 Camaro convertible with red upholstery.

"He saw the very, very worst of what happened, but he could turn out the most beautiful nature photographs you'd ever see," said his son. "We went camping a lot. . . . He knew how to capture a mood or setting."

Mr. Anderson retired from his city job in 1985. But he remained on call to "shoot" crime and fire scenes, and traveled to Yao, Japan, in a photographic exchange with Bellevue's sister city.

"He was always ready when the phone rang or the pager went off," said his son. "He was completely at the service of anyone who needed him. He often was among the first at a fire scene, so he could document how the fire pattern developed. Many times when we'd get up for school in the morning, he was still on a scene. He was very dedicated."

Besides his son, Steve, other survivors include his wife of 42 years, Lavine Anderson of Medina; son Dan Anderson, Kent; brother, Orville Anderson, also of Kent; sister, Sandra Pugh, Manchester, Kitsap County; and five grandchildren.

A life celebration is scheduled for 1 p.m. today in North Bellevue Community Senior Center, 4063 148th Ave. N.E., Bellevue. Memorials may go to Bellevue Medic One, 766 Bellevue Way S.E., Bellevue, WA, 98004.