Obituary of Raymond Eugene Andrews

Raymond Eugene Andrews passed away on June 25, 2011 in The Villages, Florida. He was born on May 17, 1934 in River Forest, IL. He graduated from Lyons Township High School in June 1952 and from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana in June 1956 with a BS in Radio-TV Journalism. He married Carol Schaefer in 1956. Ray served in the Army from 1957-58, working as a sports reporter for the base newspaper at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas. His first job was as a copywriter with McCann-Erickson Advertising Agency. Ray was a "why not give it a try" kind of guy. As a young adult he played drums in a band, tried his hand at the guitar, did a stint on the radio, and loved to philosophize in the bar. After his service for Uncle Sam and the start of his family he became an ad man. He worked as a creative copywriter in many advertising firms in the Chicago and Pittsburg areas. In 1978 he became an entrepreneur starting Ray Andrews Marketing and in 1988, Andrews Printing Center. With Carol he raised 3 children Marcy, Tami, and Andy then became "dad" to Marge Avery's three more. He was Grandpa Ray to 15 and a great grandfather to be. The last years of his life with Marge at his side were spent in The Villages in the Florida sun. He wrote books, articles, short stories, and plays. He enjoyed his writers group and was a member of the Florida Writers Association. Ray was on the board of directors as Marketing Director for the Florida Writers Foundation, a nonprofit organization helping to promote literacy in the schools. He played as much golf as he possibly could and then would sit down with a drink at the end of the day. Ray enjoyed life always seeking to understand the way the world worked. He always seemed to find the humor in any situation. His head (and computer) was full of ideas and opinions that he happily shared. He was a good dreamer and some dreams became real. When you think about Ray just think "Why Not!" Thank you to everyone who made his life so rich. A memorial service will be held on Thursday June 30, 2011 at 11:00 at Hiers Baxley: 1511 Buenos Aires Blvd, The Villages. Donations can be made in his name to the Florida Writers Foundation, 3432 Pheasant Court, Melbourne, FL 32935 (www.floridawritersfoundation.org) If you would like to send a message or stories to Ray's relatives please post messages on hiers@hiers-baxley.com