From original wildlife art to antiques and Notre Dame memorabilia, priest’s collection is up for auction

We promise: You’ve never seen a collection like the Rev. Ed Anderson’s.

Neither has Chuck Sutton, and his family has been in the auction business for 80 years.

When the Catholic Foundation for Eastern South Dakota called Sutton about the gift and said it involved four or five crates, he figured it would take a couple of hours to sort through it.

The crates turned out to be more the size of PODS. Two hours quickly became four and then six. And the quantity of items was so big that when it goes up for auction Saturday, it will require the gymnasium and cafeteria at the Cathedral of St. Joseph School in addition to several other rooms.

“This is a unique deal,” said Sutton, whose firm will run the auction online and in person. “He’s had this stuff in storage for 15 years, all climate-controlled, crated up, and he said the foundation always likes to do good things and he sees a need for a couple things the foundation can help with, one being the remodeling of the rectory at the Cathedral, and they’ve got a big fund for the organ, so he’s donating all these proceeds.”

Anderson, a University of Notre Dame graduate, which explains part of the collection, served in the  Navy before becoming an engineer and then a physician who also became an anesthesiologist, Sutton said. He was called to the priesthood and still serves in Sioux Falls.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into,” Sutton said, explaining he called in outside expertise to look at some of the pieces, including this metal sculpture that shows an anesthesiologist preparing a woman to give birth.

“It’s metal art but really intricate and detailed,” he said.

And speaking of art, there’s a lot of it.

Especially if you’re a fan of South Dakota artist Mark Anderson.

“When Mark was a young aspiring artist, he (Father Anderson) liked his work,” Sutton said. “He would always buy one or two pieces per show. As time went on and he kept improving, he’d buy numerous pieces of original artwork.”

He even commissioned an original of his cat. That’s for sale, too, along with 33 other originals.

“I sell a lot of Mark Andersons at events,” Sutton said, adding they’ve brought $1,000 to $5,000 each, while acknowledging “we’re not serving alcohol, so they might not bid with quite the same spirit. But I’m going to do my best.”

The antiques are pretty amazing too, he continued.

“He collected furniture, and some of it is late 1800s. It’s got that East Coast appearance and just some phenomenal pieces. It’s the kind of deal you just don’t run across,” Sutton said.

“I’ve sold a lot of antiques, but I started opening coffee grinders, and if there’s one, there’s 25, and they aren’t your plain-Jane coffee grinders.”

There also are a lot of limited edition prints, bronzes and even gnomes that Anderson somehow got into collecting.

And if you’re a Notre Dame fan, this is for you. There are plenty of trinkets, but there also are signed books by Notre Dame greats, both players and coaches.

And on the topic of autographs, even Sutton couldn’t believe this one.

“Somehow his mother got a signed Apollo photograph signed by one of the Apollo astronauts.”

Some online bidding has started, but “with the quantity of items, we just couldn’t put everything online,” Sutton said. “So there will be hundreds and hundreds of items that will only be there for the live crowd.”

The event starts at 10 a.m., and Sutton hopes to be done by 4:30 p.m. For a closer look, click here.