1,000 Attend Service for Lancaster Mother, 3 Daughters

Nearly 1,000 people attended a tearful memorial service at Edwards Air Force Base on Friday for a Lancaster mother and three daughters whose father killed them before taking his own life this week.

The service was held in the gymnasium of Desert High School on the base, where Melissa, Amy and Heather Anderson had played volleyball while their mother, Deborah Anderson, often cheered them.

“We’re in a game where the rules are not quite fair,” said high school Athletic Director Orbin Love. “We are down by a score of 5 to 0.”

During an hourlong ceremony, attended by the parents and brother of Deborah Anderson, the school retired the two volleyball uniforms worn by the three daughters. Students cried and laid flowers nearby, and the volleyball team’s theme song was played to conclude the memorial.

Amy Anderson, 17, was a star volleyball player and senior at the school. Heather, 15, also played on the varsity team this year as a freshman. And eldest sister, Melissa, 20, a 1988 graduate, played volleyball and was homecoming queen.

Deborah Anderson, 40, worked at the base’s Branch Elementary School. Her husband, Roy, 39, was a retired 20-year Air Force sergeant who went to work for NASA as an electronics technician in December, 1989. The family had lived at Edwards for many years before moving to Lancaster in late 1988.

After Deborah Anderson failed to arrive at work Monday morning, sheriff’s deputies went to the family’s Lancaster house and found all five dead inside. Roy Anderson had fatally stabbed his eldest daughter and then shot his wife and two other daughters before shooting himself through the head, investigators said.

There had been domestic problems in the family, friends and neighbors said. The wife and daughters had moved out early last year before returning by December. Neighbors and friends this week talked about family arguments and possible financial debts. But sheriff’s investigators said they may never know the motive.

Deborah Anderson’s mother, Elsie Drengwitz of Springfield, Ill., said she had talked to her daughter by phone last Thursday and everything “seemed to be fine.” Funeral services for the women will be held in Springfield. Another service for Melissa Anderson was held earlier this week in Lancaster. Roy Anderson will be buried separately in the Springfield area, relatives have said.

Many of those who spoke at the Edwards memorial urged friends of the family to cope with their grief and remember the best of the family.