LeRoy Anderson; Former Montana Congressman

Former U.S. Rep. LeRoy Anderson, 85, a Montana Democrat, who narrowly defeated Republican Rep. Orville Fjare in 1956 in their second contest for one of Montana’s two congressional seats. A farmer, rancher and businessman, Anderson served in the state House and Senate for 10 years before going to Washington. Anderson was reelected in 1958 but lost a U.S. Senate bid in 1960. In 1966, he was elected to another four-year term in the state Senate. In 1968, he finished third in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. Anderson had been an Army lieutenant colonel and remained active in the Army Reserves after World War II, retiring as a major general. In a ceremony in May, 1990, the headquarters and museum of the 81st Tank Battalion at Ft. Knox, Ky., was named Anderson Hall, a rare honor for a living person. On Sept. 25 in Conrad, Mont.