Dr. John F. Anderson

Dr. John Flake Anderson, 76, passed away on March 8, 2025 in Dallas, Texas after a long struggle with cancer.

A memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 22, 2025, at the First Baptist Church Waco, with a private burial at Restland Cemetery in Dallas. .

John was born on November 29, 1948, in Dallas, Texas. He grew up in McKinney, Texas, graduating in 1967 from McKinney High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball and graduated at the top of his class. He developed an early interest in medicine working as an orderly at the Wysong Clinic in McKinney and attended Baylor University. He met the love of his life, Rachel Presley, in 1967, and they were married on January 24,1970. He left college a year early to start medical school at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He received his undergraduate degree after his first year of medical school and received his M.D. in 1973. He completed an internship and surgical residency at Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) in Dallas, followed by a fellowship in vascular surgery at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. John returned to Dallas in 1979 to begin his practice in general and vascular surgery at BUMC.

In the early 1990s, John served as president of the BUMC medical staff. He was the first full-time physician executive for Baylor Health Care System and chief medical officer of BUMC from 1995 to 2004, and he held the same position at Catholic Health Initiatives from 2004 to 2008 in Denver. He served on a variety of hospital and health system boards and in other leadership roles, including serving on the Board of Trustees for his alma mater, Baylor College of Medicine, from 2011 until his death. In recent years, he worked with MEDI Leadership doing executive coaching and leadership development, and he particularly enjoyed mentoring new physician executives.

John’s professional accomplishments were only a small part of his rich and impactful life, which was founded on a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ. He followed a calling to mission work, especially medical missions, in India, Ghana, Nicaragua, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, South Texas, and other places. He delivered Meals on Wheels with Rachel. He taught Sunday school classes and served as a deacon and church leader his entire adult life, predominantly at Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas and later at First Baptist Church Waco where he and Rachel settled upon moving back from Colorado. As he told an interviewer in 2003, “I don’t wear my faith on my sleeve, but that’s what makes me tick.” Full Interview with John.

A colleague at Baylor College of Medicine noted that John “truly went out of the way to make a difference in the world. A humanitarian’s soul.”

John enjoyed skiing in the mountains and cheering on the Baylor Bears, but his main hobby was his family. Even as a busy young surgeon and health system executive, he prioritized time with his family, coaching youth sports, participating in Boy Scout campouts, and keeping up his parents’ tradition of annual driving vacations around the country. The grandkids always enjoyed Cousins’ Camp each summer with Grammie and Flake.

He was a fiercely faithful follower of Christ, so we do not mourn as those without hope, for his citizenship is in heaven.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Jack Pershing Anderson and Mary Keys Anderson.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Rachel Presley Anderson; his son, David Anderson, and his wife, Marian; his son, Justin Anderson, and his wife, Sherrie; his daughter, Rebecca Jackson, and her husband, Jeff Jackson; his daughter, Laura Bruder, and her husband, Andrew Bruder; his sister, Sally Clark, and her husband, Michael Clark; his brother, Jim Anderson, and his wife, Kathy; ten grandchildren, Sophia Anderson, Julian Anderson, Allie Anderson, Leah Anderson, Rachel Jackson, Luke Jackson, Will Jackson, Louise Bruder, June Bruder, and Graham Bruder; sisters-in-law Charlotte Taylor and Suzanne Griffin; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other loved ones.

Memorials may be made to Baylor College of Medicine - Dr. John F. and Rachel P. Anderson Endowed Fund at http://give.bcm.edu/john-anderson or mailed to Baylor College of Medicine Office of Advancement and Alumni Affairs, P.O. Box 4976, Houston, Texas 77210; or to Meals on Wheels Waco at https://mowwaco.org/donate/ or mailed to 501 W. Waco Dr., Waco, Texas 76707. The memorial service will be livestreamed at http://www.youtube.com/@FirstBaptistChurchWaco.

The family invites you to leave a message or memory of Dr. John online at his “Memorial Guestbook” at www.WHBfamily.com.