Joe B. Andrews

1936 - 2021

Joe B. Andrews

Joe B. Andrews passed away at his Sylvania home on Tuesday, February 23, 2021. He was born in Cincinnati, Iowa, on January 29, 1936. His mother, Grace Andrews, was a one-room country school teacher and his father, Harry Andrews, was a small town carpenter. When Joe's sister Sally was born they migrated to Rock Island, Illinois, where Joe's father found a job working in a John Deere farm equipment factory. After he graduated from Rock Island High School in 1953, Joe entered Northwestern University's Engineering School co-op program, even though he lacked the dinner jacket his math teacher said he would need as a Northwestern student. He majored in Industrial Engineering, and worked his quarterly co-op periods at International Harvester's Farmall plant in Rock Island. Life at Northwestern and in Chicago were dramatic changes from the world he'd grown up in, and he enjoyed it! While at Northwestern, he met his future wife, Antonia Wuest, on a blind date. Following their graduations, they married in 1959, travelled around Europe and then settled in Rock Island where Joe began to work as an industrial engineer for International Harvester. As there was a shift to include advanced mathematics in business, they decided to move to Pittsburgh so that Joe could pursue a degree at the Graduate School of Industrial Administration at Carnegie Institute of Technology. Throughout his career working as an industrial engineer, Joe worked for Allis-Chalmers in a variety of roles in Cincinnati (OH), Milwaukee (WI), and York (PA). After working as the Nuclear Components Manager for Allis Chalmers from 1970 to 1974, Joe worked as President of Prestolite Wire Division in Port Huron (MI) and then as Vice-President of Midland-Ross Corporation in Toledo. In 1986, Joe shifted gears and began to work for himself. He owned VR Business Brokers and then Quality Business Systems, both in Toledo. Joe believed in the American Dream and spent his life pursuing it. From being born at home in a town of three hundred people to working with Admiral Hyman Rickover and then to being the president and vice-president of two corporations, Joe Bill Andrews was a living example of the American Dream. Joe's kindness will be remembered by many.

Joe leaves behind his life partner of sixty-one years, Antonia Wuest Andrews; his sister, Sally Riley; and three married children, Katie Cappellini (Tom Cappellini), Ted Andrews (Ellen Andrews), and Barbara Andrews (Dietmar Lorenz). He also leaves behind five grandchildren, Owen Cappellini, Grace Cappellini, Leo Lorenz, Lina Lorenz, and Harry Andrews.

A celebration of Joe's life will be held this summer.