ANDREWS. Albert M. - b. June 12, 1924 - d. August 3, 2012

[patyrn]

Albert M. Andrews, 88, passed away Friday, August 3, 2012.  He was born June 12, 1924 to Albert and Edith (Collins) Andrews in Howard, Kansas, the last of their nine children.

As a Private First Class in the United States Army's Infantry during World War II, Albert saw action on D-Day at Utah Beach, later at St. Lo in France, and finally in the Battle of the Bulge.  He was honorably discharged in 1945, receiving the Purple Heart with 2 Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters.  

Albert married Patricia Merliss in Okmulgee, Oklahoma on November 4, 1945, and four children were born to this union.  After his marriage, Albert earned a degree in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University) working numerous part-time jobs to help support his growing family.  Albert began his career in the aircraft industry with Sperry Gyroscope in Long Island, New York and worked as a civilian at various military aircraft facilities in Ohio, New York, Texas, New Mexico, Tennessee, California, and Washington before he came to Boeing in Wichita, Kansas in 1957.  Albert worked at Boeing, retiring in 1987 as head of the CAD/CAM Unit.  Albert enjoyed reading, computers, traveling, and playing golf when he wasn't employed as a fry cook at his wife, Patricia's restaurant, The Pancake Shoppe.  Albert and Patricia lived in Wichita for the past 55 years.

Albert will be remembered for his wisdom, kindness, and sense of humor by his children, Dynda L. Andrews of New York City, New York, Randall Steven Andrews of Washington, D.C., Schari (Chuck) Porter of Buhler, Kansas, and James P. Andrews of Kansas City, Missouri; grandchildren, John A. P. (Daphne) Kirby, Timothy J. Kirby, and Perrin P.L. Kirby, all of New York City, New York, Charlie Porter of Lawrence, Kansas, and Blasi Porter of Buhler, Kansas; and great-grandchild, Emma Rose Kirby of New York City, New York.  He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Patricia; 7 sisters; and 1brother.

A private family service was held.  Memorial contributions may be made to Harry Hynes Memorial Hospice or any charity or cause of choice.

(taken from the Wichita Eagle website)

[larryJ]

This would be my Uncle "Jiimmy" although I never knew why we called him that.  He was the youngest of the nine children of Albert and Edith Andrews.  They are all gone now.  He was my mother's brother.  We stopped many times at the Pancake Shoppe when we went to Howard.  I didn't have much contact with him after my mother passed, but in recent years when we have had our cousin's reunions, I have had the opportunity to get to know his daughter Schari.

When he came home from the war he was in a body cast and took many months in the hospital to fully recover.  I'll have to look it up, but I believe he received two Purple Hearts.

Larryj

[jarhead]

Larry, Sorry to hear you lost an Uncle. His obit says he has a PH with two Oak Leaf Clusters. That should mean he was awarded 3 Purple Hearts. A true patriot & warrior.

[Diane Amberg]

Larry, so sorry for your loss.That generation is leaving us very quickly now. I hope families are writing down their histories and stories while they can.

[larryJ]

Diane, you are right.  That generation of our family is now gone.  I fully support the idea of auto-biographies or biographies of older relatives.  Recently, one our our cousins had posed a question about our grandmother who passed in 1962.  The question was about what caused her death.  I have one cousin who is the same age as me and we are pretty close, e-mailing each other once a week, and she had asked me if I could remember.  I couldn't and said so.  Granny was 80 when she died and I seem to believe she might have had pneumonia, but I'm not sure.  A few days later, it occurred to me that my close cousin and I are now at the stage in our lives that if someone were to ask a question like that, we could tell them anything we wanted because there is nobody left to dispute it!

When that other cousin had asked that question, (Albert Andews was her father), I suggested that perhaps she should encourage him to write a story about his life.  Unfortunately, he passed before that could happen. 

Larryj

[patyrn]

Larry,

Do you keep in touch with the Snodderly cousins?  Since they lived in Howard, they might have remembered about your grandmother's death.

KRI

[Mom70x7]

He does - if I count. I'm Larry's 2nd cousin once removed - and Mary Ellen Snodderly's first cousin twice removed. (I think I have that right.)    I keep trying to do genealogy, but I don't always trust my record-keeping.

Larry and I met through the forum, although we haven't met yet. Finding each other is one of the positives from the Elk County Forum.

[larryJ]

Patyrn, thanks for the suggestion.  I hadn't thought of them as remembering, but it is quite possible as they were living in Howard at the time and Paul is a doctor now.  I will pass that on.  Thanks.

I haven't seen John since the early sixties, although I did have contact with his youngest daughter for a while when I was publishing a newsletter for the family.  (It died for lack of interest, both theirs and mine.)  She and I e-mailed for a while and then she went off to school and we stopped.  My son and I took a trip to Arkansas in 2002 and on the way back stopped to see Bill Redmond in Howard and then up to Topeka to visit with another cousin.  Then we drove to Denver and went to see Paul for a brief visit.  There was a cousins reunion in Colorado Springs some years ago and Paul came to that.  However, I will mention it to my cousin.

Mom, your grandmother, Bertie, was a first cousin to my mother and to Albert Andrews.  Your mother and I would be second cousins and that makes you a second cousin once removed.  And, your are correct, you would be Mary Ellen's, Albert's and my mother's, as well as the rest of that family, a first cousin twice removed. 

Thanks again for the mention of the Snodderleys.  I will definitely pass that on.

Larryj