Beloved Ridgefield softball coach enters hospice

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In a Facebook post on Thursday, Ridgefield softball coach Dusty Anchors said his final goodbyes to the community following a long battle with heart failure.  

“Today, May 9th...I will be going to Community Home Health Hospice in Salmon Creek to start this final chapter,” Anchors said in the post. “Once there all drugs, cords, tube, pills will be stopped and will be just given those to keep me comfortable.”

Anchors wrote that he is thankful for everybody he’s met. 

“There are so many people to thank, it boggles my mind.” 

Dusty also mentioned his years coaching softball as a pinnacle achievement, stating that softball has been a large part of his life over the last 30 years.

“It has allowed me to go places, meet people and experience great events and championships… the wins, losses but more importantly the lives of young female student/athletes I have effected.” 



Heart diseases like Anchors’ were the leading cause of death in the United States in 2016-17, according to the Centers for Disease Control, killing more than 600,000 citizens per year. 

Illness and hardships with health are not new to Anchors, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 1985 after being exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War. 

Although the cancer was killed with radiation, the radiation left a mark that later would prove an issue when Anchors went in for open-heart surgery in 2008 following a heart attack two years prior. Due to radiation scarring, doctors were unable to perform a quadruple bypass. 

“Thank you, Dusty Anchors, for the incredible impact you have had on Spud Nation!” The Ridgefield Boosters Facebook page wrote. “Sending peace and love to you and your family.”