By By Kerry Whipple Bean – publisher
Friends and family of Keith Anderson are remembering the Brewton native as a &#8220class act.”
Anderson, 38, who worked as a corrections officer at Holman prison in Atmore, was killed early Monday morning in a car wreck just outside Atmore.
Anderson's niece, Tara Barton Paschall, was so close in age the two were more like siblings.
Donnie Rotch, principal at T.R. Miller, remembers Anderson as someone who &#8220always greeted people with a smile.”
Anderson played football and basketball and ran track at the school - quite a feat for a student, Rotch said.
Friends and family called Anderson &#8220Freeze,” a nickname that had stuck since childhood.
Aaron Anderson, Keith's older brother, said he often acted &#8220like a daddy and a big brother” to his younger sibling.
Aaron Anderson remembers teaching Keith how to swim and how to ride motorcycles. He said he will simply miss spending time with his brother.
State troopers said Anderson was driving a 1993 Chevrolet Corvette on U.S. 31 North near Atmore when the car left the road and struck a power pole.
The car overturned and burst into flames, killing Anderson and passenger Darwin Eugene Robinson, 41, of Walnut Hill, Fla.
Robinson was also a corrections officer at Holman.
Troopers said an investigation into the crash is ongoing.
Anderson is survived by his wife, Alice, and daughter, Keiunna; his mother, Rosia Anderson; two brothers and two sisters. He was laid to rest Saturday at Baptist Hill Cemetary.
Jennings said his class, which is planning its 20th anniversary next year, has lost several classmates in recent years.
Anderson's loss will be felt by everyone, Jennings said.
For people returning home for Miller reunions, &#8220Keith was one of the classmates you went to see,” Jennings said. &#8220You came because you wanted to see Keith Anderson.