[The following obituary was submitted to The Wild Hunt by Feri Tradition initiate Onyx.]
Victor Anderson
Victor Elon Anderson, son of Victor and Cora Anderson, the modern founders of the Feri Tradition, crossed over peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, March 31, 2013. Elon was born on April 12, 1945, in Bend, Oregon. Shortly after his birth, Victor and Cora moved to the San Francisco Bay Area. Elon spent most of his youth in Hayward, Calif. During junior high school he met Gwydion Pendderwen, whom he initially sparred with and then befriended.
Soon after sparring with Gwydion, he started studying judo at the Hayward Judo Club. After enlisting in the U.S. Army, he obtained his shodan in Judo from the Korea Judo Association while stationed there. He was a lifelong member of the U.S. Judo community and earned a 5th-degree black belt. He was a member of the Sacramento Judo Club for 26 years, where he became a sensei and national Judo referee. He had also written an article on “The Four Pillars of Judo.”
Elon was trained in radiation safety in the Army and was an honor graduate from the United States Army Engineer School. He obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and was a certified health physicist for the State of California. Elon assisted in the response to the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island nuclear plant and was a member of an elite team of radiologic health early responders for many years. In the later years of his career at the California Department of Health Services, Radiologic Health Branch, he assisted in radiologic disaster preparedness and helped conduct numerous drills across California and Oregon until his retirement in 2010.
“Victor Elon Anderson was a man of great strength and kindness. He was important to the Feri Tradition not only as Victor and Cora’s child, but as the childhood friend of the boy who grew to be Gwydion Pendderwen, Bard of the Craft. Elon, we honor you. May your family find comfort. May your soul rest well. What is remembered, lives.” – T. Thorn Coyle
Elon was a devoted father and son. He was a kind-hearted man who was happy to share a meal and a story with those who came to visit Victor and Cora. When Cora became bedridden after a stroke, Elon visited her often, managed her finances, helped with fund-raising efforts to assist in her care and managed her in-home care needs until her passing in 2008. He kept strong ties to the Feri community and called upon the larger Pagan community often to aid in Cora’s health and well-being.
“We at Harpy Books will miss him deeply. His photo will go on our permanent ancestor shrine along with Victor and Cora’s.” – Harpy Books
At the passing of his father, Elon wrote that “like the Kodokan Judo, I so love, Faerie also has much to do with the polishing and perfecting of character. In the white-hot heat of battle, you must learn to live and die with true honor. The study of religion is no less a dangerous enterprise. You must learn to perfect your character so that you are worthy of your knowledge and skills, so that your relationship with God can be a pure and honest one.”
He is survived by his wife, six children, five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. A memorial service was held at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in Sacramento, Calif., on Saturday, April 6, 2013.
ADDENDUM: Victoria Daniell, Victor Elon Anderson’s daughter, added the following insight concerning her father: “Dad not only shared the religion of his parents, he also share his wife’s religion. In many ways my father was a bridge-builder; he set out to prove that we can all live together without the BS conflicts and instead embrace our differences and celebrate the diversity that is the human experience.”
. Of her mother’s passing, son Jonathan A Horan said: “Our Mama Raven’s wings have lifted her spirit from this lifetime and she is in flight to her next journey, where she will dance in our hearts forever.” The family ask that 
