Thomas Johnston Andrews

1938 - 2025

Thomas Johnston Andrews

September 5, 1938 - December 22, 2025

Raleigh, North Carolina - Thomas Johnston Andrews passed away on December 22, 2025, at Rex Hospital after a brief illness. Tom was born on September 5, 1938, in Syracuse, New York, to John Young Andrews and June Johnston Andrews. After graduating from high school in Syracuse, he went to Dartmouth College, where he graduated in 1960. Tom was a loyal Dartmouth alumnus who loved going back there for Alumni Council events, class reunions, and other occasions. He attended Yale Divinity School for a year and then switched to law, graduating from Duke Law School in 1964. He then spent two years in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia. He relished his Peace Corps experience and went to several volunteer reunions including a return trip to Ethiopia in 2012. After the Peace Corps he worked for the law firm of Hale & Dorr in Boston, Massachusetts. His time there turned him into an enthusiastic Boston sports fan, especially of the Red Sox and the Patriots. He moved to North Carolina in 1969 to teach at the University of North Carolina School of Law. In 1982, he went into private practice, and then in 1987 he was employed as counsel at the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, from which he retired in 2005. Tom was a long-time member of White Memorial Presbyterian Church. In the past he served as a deacon and a youth group counselor, participating in service projects in this country such as the Appalachian Service Project several times, and in other countries, including Mexico, Haiti, and Russia. For years, he was active in the Multiple Sclerosis Society as his sister Joyce had multiple sclerosis and later his niece was diagnosed with it. He was an avid cyclist and participated numerous times in the annual Bike MS ride at the beach, usually riding 150 miles over the course of the weekend and often helping mark the course. He was heavily involved in establishing A Place at the Table, a pay-what-you-can restaurant in downtown Raleigh. He loved humor and was always telling jokes and making puns. Tom was a voracious reader, enjoying classics, history, mysteries, modern fiction, and religious writings. He also attended many Carolina football, baseball, and basketball games with family members, rooting for the Heels except on the rare occasions they played Dartmouth.

Tom was predeceased by his parents; his sister Joyce Ellen Andrews; and his daughter Katherine Lillian Andrews. He is survived by his wife, Norma Smithwick Harrell; his son Henry Harrell Andrews, and his son John Young Andrews, John's wife Julie Smith Andrews, and their sons Justin Young Andrews, Jace Kenneth Andrews, and Jordan Thomas Andrews, plus Justin's wife Emma King Andrews and their son Jonah Young Andrews. Tom was very family and friend oriented, and his impact lives on in their lives.

A memorial service will be held at White Memorial Presbyterian Church on January 13, 2026, at 2 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please donate to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, A Place at the Table, or the National Alliance on Mental Illness.