Kemmer “Yogi” Anderson, who was known as McCallie School’s unofficial poet laureate, “who taught and inspired thousands of boys over his 42-year career on the McCallie faculty,” died unexpectedly on Friday.
“Yogi,” as he was affectionately called by his students, retired in 2019 but remained active in school life, often attending campus events and visiting former students and faculty members. He was attending the funeral service of a former student, Brice Burbank ’87, when he collapsed. He died a few hours later at Erlanger Hospital.
Kemmer was one of those legendary faculty members who touched the hearts and minds of thousands of McCallie students over his long career at McCallie,” said Head of School Lee Burns ’87. “His love – for his wife Martha, for his God, for poetry and literature (especially Milton), for academic curiosity, and especially his love for his students and his fellow faculty – was what made Kemmer special to all of us. We will always remember his booming voice, his bright eyes filled with passion and wonder, and his classroom wanderings, which somehow, amazingly, his students were able to follow and appreciate more than adults.”
His wife, Martha, served for many years on the faculty as a counselor and was editor of several of Kemmer’s volumes of poetry. The two traveled throughout the world, often with other McCallie faculty.
According to Martha, funeral services will be held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Chattanooga. The date and time have not been set.
A native of New York City, Mr. Anderson was a graduate of Davidson College and Pembroke State University. He served as a lieutenant in the Korean conflict. He worked briefly as a brickmaker, a carpenter, and a news reporter before attending Union Theological School in New York, where he decided that his real calling was to teach. He was hired as an English teacher at McCallie in 1977.
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