Burton Robert Andersen, 93, of Oak Park, died on Dec. 5, 2025. Born on Aug. 27, 1932, to Alice (née Mara) and Burton Royal Andersen in Chicago, he had a close bond with his older sister, Joy (Ransdell), throughout their lives. He grew up in the Lawndale neighborhood of Chicago and attended Austin High School. His initial career plan was to be an opera singer, and he attended Northwestern University’s School of Music. However, his love of medicine prevailed and he changed course to become a doctor, transferring to the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, where he earned his BA in 1953, then went on to complete a Doctor of Medicine along with a Master of Science in Physiology from the University of Illinois Chicago. Despite this change in professional direction, Burt maintained his love of music and continued to participate in musicals, choirs, and other singing events.
In 1960, he met Louise Roberta Gross in a choir and after a whirlwind romance they married and had three children: Ellen (Richard) Benya, Julia (Brian) DeBroux and Brian (Srisupen) Andersen. After several years in Rockville, Maryland and Rochester, New York, Burt and Louise settled in Oak Park. Their love of nature inspired the annual Andersen family backpacking trip out West, the source of many legendary family stories
Burt had an illustrious career as a medical researcher and physician in infectious diseases, publishing 103 research papers, including studies that helped advance the understanding of neutrophil function during infection with various pathogens, as well as investigations into the treatment of tuberculosis. He served as Chief of Infectious Diseases first at the West Side VA Hospital and then the University of Illinois Medical Center between 1973 and 1999. Even after his retirement he stayed actively interested in science, serving as a research subject advocate and coauthoring a book on ancient Assyrian and Babylonian medicine.
Other passions in his life involved physical fitness, competing in 10K runs and biking to work. His love of nature was particularly focused on trees, and he planted a mini-forest in the yard of his Oak Park home. He traced the family history back over 150 years and traveled to Europe to gather information and meet long-lost relatives. He also visited New Guinea and China before it was very accessible to Westerners.
Louise died after a long illness in 1990. Burt met Hannah Voigt in 2012 when she accompanied his singing in a performance. Their shared love of music was part of their strong bond. Together they performed many times at Unity Temple and later shared their talents with their neighbors at Brookdale Senior Living in Oak Park. They also served as co-chairs of the Schubert Music Festival, held at Unity Temple. His soaring voice was particularly suited to the songs of Stephen Sondheim, which he sang with deep feeling.
He is survived by his three children and four of his grandchildren (Mark Benya, Sarah Benya, Owen Andersen and Eleanor Andersen). He was preceded in death by his beloved Hannah and his granddaughter, Louise Andersen.
Burt will be remembered for his compassion and love for social justice causes, his dry sense of humor, his inquisitive mind, his calm demeanor, and his beautiful tenor voice, which remained strong to the end of his life.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to WBEZ (public broadcasting), the Southern Poverty Law Center (splcenter.org) or Unity Temple (unitytemple.org) where Burt was a devoted and highly regarded member of the choir for many years.
