Education
University of Minnesota.
University of Minnesota.
From International Falls, Anderson entered politics at approximately the same time that he was elected union president at the M & O Paper Company, the International Falls paper mill where he worked. A Democrat, he represented the old District 64 and 64B and, later, District 3A. The sprawling district included all or portions of Beltrami, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods and Saint Louis counties in the northern part of the state. Anderson served as majority leader of the House from 1973 to 1981, and again, briefly, in 1993 before becoming Speaker of the House in September 1993, a position he held until 1997.
He continued to serve in the legislature until 2007, opting not to run for re-election in 2006 due to health concerns.
He also helped create Minnesota"s memorial to World World War II veterans. Anderson died at Mercy Hospital in Coon Rapids on November 17, 2008.
He was buried in Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Cemetery in International Falls. On April 15, 2009, Governor Tim Pawlenty approved a bill designating United States. Highway 53 from Virginia to International Falls as the Irv Anderson Memorial Highway.