In the world of heavy construction, Scott Anderson was known as much for his wit and carefully chosen words as he was for his loyalty and commitment to fine work, his colleagues said Thursday.

Within a month of joining MidMountain Contractors five years ago, he was promoted to foreman in the company that specializes in building bridges, roads and parking lots.

"It was obvious that he had immense integrity and the ability to work with just about anyone," general superintendent Dave Melton said.

"He wasn't long on words," said Anderson's supervisor and close friend, Keith Gann, "but when he spoke it was well-executed and if you could get him to talk, you never met a funnier person.

"He was devoted to his family and a top-notch carpenter," Gann said.

Anderson, 32, his parents, his wife and their two young children were shot and killed at his parents' home near Carnation on Christmas Eve.

His sister, Michele Anderson, and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, both 29, have been arrested and are expected to be charged in the slayings today.

According to several friends of the Anderson family, Scott and his parents generally were close-knit and had tried over the years to help Michele, whom the friends described as troubled and often paranoid.

Wayne Anderson, 60, was a veteran Boeing engineer who proudly displayed pictures of his grandchildren, loved to refurbish old cars and was looking forward to retirement, his friends and colleagues said.

Judy Anderson, 61, a well-liked postal carrier in Carnation, was "very nice, very sweet," said former neighbor Susan Malin, of Renton.

Scott Anderson's wife, Erica, 32, was a devoted stay-at-home mom in Black Diamond who doted on 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan, said her parents, Tony and Pamela Mantle.

Family friend Mark Bennett described Wayne and Judy Anderson as "notoriously private."

"They didn't have a big, extended family," he said. "It was just Judy, Wayne, the kids and the grandkids."

Wayne Anderson enjoyed fishing and working on cars at the couple's rural home near Carnation. Judy Anderson was an avid gardener.

She was close to her son, Scott, and extremely close to her other daughter, Mary Victoria Anderson, Bennett said. The mother and daughter "talked constantly on the phone," he said.

"She was very close to all her kids. They were everything to her," said Jan Hollenbeck, who worked with Judy Anderson at the Carnation post office.

Malin, however, had harsher words for Wayne Anderson.

She said he was argumentative and threatened to sue over minor property disputes. She also claimed he once threatened her brother with a gun.

Jennifer Chandler, a friend of Michele Anderson's from Cedarcrest High School in Duvall, said Michele claimed years ago that her father hit her, and she began lifting weights in high school to protect herself.

Scott Anderson and his wife, Erica Mantle Anderson, met when they were at Tolt High School together, according to Erica Anderson's family.

Scott Anderson attended the University of Washington, where he studied business, and worked in an office before deciding he'd rather be in the open air.

He became an apprentice carpenter at the Woodinville construction company where his father-in-law is general superintendent before joining MidMountain, his friend Gann said.

"He was a solid, loving person who worked 12-hour days to make sure his family had what they needed," Gann said.

He said Scott Anderson did not socialize much with fellow workers, opting to head home to spend time with his children or work on his cars.

He and his sister Michele apparently were trying to start an auto-painting company called Pure Evil Customs, according to public business records.

On Thursday, the blinds were drawn in the family's small gray house in Black Diamond. A single strand of twinkling lights rimmed a small window near the front door.

Someone had left a vase full of flowers with a note — "We will miss you" — on the front step.

Christine Clarridge: 206-464-8983 or cclarridge@seattletimes.com. Seattle Times reporters Cara Solomon, Rachel Tuinstra, Lauren Vane, Sonia Krishnan, Amy Roe and Sara Jean Green contributed to this report.