Andrea Poynter McDaniel

1955 - 2021

MCDANIEL, Andrea Poynter, 65, of Richmond, Virginia, passed away at home on March 25, 2021. Surrounded by family and supported by many friends, Andrea fought a courageous seven-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Our hearts are heavy with our loss, but we know she shines above with the love and joy with which she graced this earth. Above all, she was devoted to God and to her family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Kenneth Lloyd Poynter and Marian Bucy Poynter; her brother, Randolph Poynter; and sister-in-law, Libby Poynter. She is survived by her husband of 41 years, G. Thorn McDaniel III; children, Katherine Poynter McDaniel (Tommy Gibson), Christopher Thornhill McDaniel (Danni); and her precious granddaughter, Jameson Jeanne Gibson. She is also survived by her sisters, Candace McCullough (Alan), Sandra Harvill (Mark); and a host of nephews, nieces, grandnephews and grandnieces whom she adored. Andrea, or Andi to her family and close friends, was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and grew up in Conyers, Georgia. She was a graduate of the University of Georgia Grady School of Journalism. While a student there, she founded the Young Republicans for the state of Georgia. She got her passion for politics from her Daddy, and she traveled all over the country teaching other students how to run campaigns. This led her to move to Washington, D.C., to work on Capitol Hill as a press assistant in the office of Congressman Robert Daniel (R-Va.). It was there that she met her husband, Thorn. He answered the door with one shoe off, nursing a tennis blister and she knew at that moment that she was going to marry him. Her journalism career continued during her marriage as she worked as a newspaper reporter for the Valley Pioneer in Danville, Calif., radio drive-time news anchor for WESC in Greenville, S.C., radio reporter for WNSI, Tampa, Fla. and TV news anchor for WFTS TV-28 in Tampa, Fla. With her accumulated experience, she was hired as the morning news anchor for WTVT TV-13, the CBS affiliate in Tampa, Fla., where her show became the number one rated morning news show. She and her husband finally settled in Richmond, Va., where she became the morning news anchor for NBC affiliate, WWBT Channel 12. During her 21 years at Channel 12, her news show was continually ranked number one and she received the coveted Emmy Award for her outstanding news reporting. In Richmond, she was known for her infectious smile and her signature cheerful "Good morning" to open her show. Subsequent to her time at Channel 12, she became active in a number of charitable and humanitarian non-profit organizations including her own, American Epiphany, which promoted American values. She was a Board Member of Great Aspirations Scholarship Program, Inc. (GRASP) which helped students and families reach their education goals, regardless of their financial circumstances. She was named "Advocate of the Year" by the Greater Richmond Alzheimer's Association in 2008. She was also a passionate advocate for the Lost Boys of Sudan in the United States and authored the book Bol Gai Deng, Legacy of an African Freedom Fighter. Despite her career in the public eye, she was an introvert, a voracious reader and writer and most comfortable covered in dirt and sweat working on her farm. She gutted and completely renovated a 1925 farmhouse in Manakin-Sabot, where she and her family spent many holidays on the large front porch or in front of a fireplace kept roaring all day. If you knew her, you knew these work and charitable endeavors were important to her but were not her true passion. Andrea's passion was her family and words cannot paint the picture of how much her children, husband, brother, sisters and parents meant to her. While Andrea worked early morning hours, she never missed a day with her kids. She was always active in her children's school and extracurricular activities, serving as school office assistant, classroom mother, field trip chaperone, driver, Odyssey of the Minds coach and anything that her kids needed. Of all of her titles, Mama was her favorite. She loved her trips to see her son Christopher in Curacao where they would watch movies late into the night, and to Los Angeles and New York to visit her daughter, Katie where they would drink margaritas and plan trips and adventures. Her love for her family was supernatural, and one of her greatest joys was becoming "Grandy" just nine months ago when her precious JJ was born.

A private service will be held for the family at their farm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Great Aspirations Scholarship Program or to southernsudanproject.org.