Name: Calling hours for Thomas F. Andrews III
Start: 2015-06-04T21:00:00.000Z
End: 2015-06-05T00:00:00.000Z
Location: Funk Funeral Home - Bristol

Thomas F. Andrews, III, 74, of Bristol, beloved husband of Patricia (Mackie) Andrews, died on Sunday May 31, 2015 at the Bristol Hospital. Tom was born in Bridgeport on December 12, 1940 and was a son of the late Thomas F. Jr. and Mary (Blum) Andrews. Tom grew up in West Hartford and graduated from Hall High School. Tom received his Bachelors of Science degree from Central Connecticut State University (CCSU) in 1962 and Master's degree in 1968 from CCSU. He moved to Bristol in 1962 and began his professional teaching career at Bristol Eastern High School from 1962 to 1968. In 1969 he went to teach at CCSU and became Director of Clinical Practices, from which he retired as Professor Emeritus after 29 years of service. In retirement he was an active member of the Bristol Men's Garden Club as a certified Master Gardener. He was a member of St. Gregory Church, Bristol. In addition to his wife of 50 years, Tom is survived by a son, Michael T. Andrews of Biloxi, MS; a daughter and son-in-law, Jill and Steven VanVoorhis of Simsbury; and two grandchildren, Kevin and Katherine VanVoorhis. In addition to his parents, Tom was predeceased by a sister, Mary Scholz. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday June 5, 2015, 10 A.M. at St. Gregory Church, 235 Maltby St., Bristol. Burial will follow in St. Joseph Cemetery, Bristol. Relatives and friends may call at the Funk Funeral Home, 35 Bellevue Ave., Bristol on Thursday between 5 and 8 PM. In lieu of flowers, Memorial donations may be made in Tom's memory to Bristol Hospital Home Care and Hospice, 222 Main St., Bristol, CT 06010. Please visit Tom's memorial website at www.FUNKFUNERALHOME.com

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Published by Hartford Courant on Jun. 2, 2015.

Memories and Condolences
for Thomas Andrews

Sponsored by the family.

2 Entries

Cassandra Schneider Niemczyk

August 11, 2017

I was a student in Tom Andrews' advanced biology class when he was a first-year teacher at Bristol Eastern High School in 1962, only a few years older than myself. I also knew his wife-to-be, Pat Mackie, from our days together as Mariner Girl Scouts. After I graduated and went away to college, I lost contact with many old friends, and I did not know until today that Tom and Pat got married. It was a very long time ago, more than half a century.

Today I was thinking about something I learned in Tom's class. It was something very basic and also very broad. He taught us how to take notes, and he encouraged us to review our notes every night at home. He guaranteed that if we followed his advice, we would succeed in his class. I gave it a try, and I discovered that I had been given a powerful learning tool which carried me through my college years and two subsequent post-graduate degrees.

A few years ago, at the tender age of 70 I decided to learn to play the violin, which is a formidable instrument at any age. Today at my lesson I covered my scores with copious notes, and afterward I began the arduous task of transcribing the notes onto freshly printed scores to guide my practice for the coming week. And suddenly I remembered Tom and all he had taught me, and where all that note-taking came from. I wanted to thank him, so I put on my genealogy hat and searched, only to find outsadlythat he had passed away a couple of years ago. He was a Master Teacher as well as a Master Gardener. Those two vocations are not unrelated. He wanted his students to learn and to succeed in his class. And even more than that, he wanted us to grow and to become better human beings.

Pat, if you are reading this tribute, I want to extend my heartfelt sympathy and sorrow for what must be a wrenching loss. Tom was a rock, a magnificent, beautiful, inspiring piece of granite. His departure no doubt left a hole that is just as large. Truth be told, our lives, even when they are very good, are fragile. My husband, who, like Tom, is a college professor, had his own brush with death about a year ago when he suffered a stroke. He survived and has made a good recovery. Even so, I have become much more aware that someday, perhaps sooner than we imagine, one of us will leave the other. But then I also realized that when two people live in a loving relationship for half a century, a remarkable inter-mingling of personalities occurs, the wife in her husband, and the husband in his wife. A large part of who I am today is a product of all the previous days I spent with the man I love. I hope this realization will bring comfort to you. As we did so many decades ago in those little boats on Nantucket Sound, it is time for you to reel in the halyard, raise the sail, and ride the wind of your memories. Look for Tom, not in his grave, but deep within yourself.

Funk Funeral Home

June 2, 2015

Our heartfelt sympathies in this, your time of grief.

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