John Willard Anna, Jr. (February 15, 1963) is an Arborist and businessman and currently the owner of Maryland based Adirondack Tree Experts as well as Rhode Island Associates, a real estate holding company. Anna is also a former United States Marine who served President Ronald Reagan at the Presidential Retreat at Camp David.
After 4 years in the United States Marine Corps, Anna attended Prince Georges Community College in Maryland where he earned an AAS in Business Management. Anna then formed a landscaping company and went on to develop and operate two restaurants in the Washington, DC Metropolitan area, Terrapin Pizza House in College Park, MD and Cory's Deli in Beltsville, MD. In the Fall of 1991, Anna purchased the famed "Playpen Night Club" in Ocean City, MD and in the fall of 1992 he purchased an apartment complex in his adopted home of Beltsville, MD. In 1994 Anna formed Adirondack Tree Experts. Now in its 18th year of business, "Adirondack" is considered one of the largest, top-rated tree care and removal companies in the Washington Metropolitan area.
Early Life
Anna was born in Batavia, New York. He is the son of Margaret and John W. Anna, Sr., a former New York State Trooper who served for nearly 40 years. As a young man, Anna was the consummate businessman and spent the great majority of his time shoveling snow in winter and mowing lawns in the warmer months for his neighborhood customers. In addition, he was an avid trapper and during winter trapping season he could be found tending his trap-line along the banks of the Tonawanda Creek. Anna attended public schools in Batavia where he played Hockey and Football. Upon graduation from Batavia High School in 1981, Anna joined the United States Marine Corps.
Military Service
After graduating High School, Anna enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and attended boot camp at Paris Island, South Carolina. After graduating number 1 in his platoon, Anna was selected as his platoon's "Honor Man" and was meritoriously promoted. He was then selected for the prestigious duty at the Presidential Retreat at Camp David where he served President Ronald Reagan. After again being meritoriously promoted, Anna became one of the youngest Platoon Sergeants in Camp David History at 20 years of age. After departing the enlisted ranks of the Marine Corps in 1985, Anna entered the Marine Officer Program PLC and attended Officer Candidate School at Camp Upshur at Quantico Marine Corps Base, VA. After his first summer session, Anna decided to pursue his business aspirations and resigned from the program. Anna is one of the select few that has been awarded the Presidential Service Badge and Certificate for his service to the President of the United States.
Business
After owning and operating several businesses throughout the late 80's and early 90's, Anna began to focus his energies and resources on his current companies. Adirondack Tree Experts, one of the largest top-rated tree care and removal companies in the Washington Metro area, provides tree care and removal services to the City of Washington, DC, as well as most municipal and county governments, utility providers and residential customers in the Metro area. In 2001, Anna formed Rhode Island Associates, LLC, a commercial real estate holding company that purchases, sells and leases commercial real estate in Maryland.
Philanthropy
In the mid 1990's as his business ventures began to flourish, Anna began to pursue an active philanthropic course. He frequently gave freely to local Boys & Girls clubs and sponsored numerous school and community sports and academic programs. Looking to expand programs for needy children, Anna started the annual "Christmas for the Kids" program which allowed less fortunate children to write letters to Santa Claus with their Christmas gift requests, Anna would then fulfill those requests regardless of cost. Now in it's 12th year, the program provides "Christmas" for over 75 children annually. In 2001, Anna made a $100,000.00 donation to St. Vincent Pallotti High School as the school expanded it's facilities. He then donated another $35,000.00 for the establishment of the "Anna Audio Visual Center" in the schools new academis wing. Over a 15 year period, Anna donated over $300,000.00 to "Pallotti" as they endeavored to establish an unparalleled academic setting for their students. During the same period, Anna also began to give freely to Faith Baptist Christian School, another local christian based academis institution. After donating nearly $100,000.00 over a 10 year period, Anna established a new computer learning center in the school which he outfitted with new state of the art computer systems. In addition to academic philanthropic pursuits, Anna also gave freely to local law enforcement programs and agencies donating over $150,000.00 to numerous training programs and "National Night Out" events. Over the past 20 years Anna has supported everything from academics and law enforcement to youth sports, school music programs and the occasional funeral expenses for those in need of honoring a loved one.
Awards and Decorations
In 2008, Anna was recognized by Prince Georges Community College as one of the 50 most prominent graduates in the past 50 years. A tribute to his business endeavors and philanthropy in the community.
Personal Life
Anna currently resides in Beltsville, Maryland; he is married to Felicia Anna and they have four children, Shawn, Jamie, Cory and Kara. An avid pilot, Anna enjoys flying both fixed and rotary wing aircraft and further enjoys diving and fishing in the Turks Islands where he spends much of his free time.