Charles R. Andrews Jr.

CHARLES ANDREWS”CHAD”To know him was to love him.If your reading this post, you now know that my beloved Chad passed away on Wednesday, August 23rd at 6 a.m. Chad led a gallant fight to the very end.Chad was not only my husband, he was was my best friend. We seldom quarreled, because he being the intelligent man he was, knew I was always right anyway. Lol. He first stole my heart when I saw him sitting on the couch at a good friend’s bachelor party that us girls had crashed. I was just 19 yrs old. I immediately went over and sat on his lap. I often laughed with him that I never got off his lap from that moment. We took our separate paths for a few years, then life must of meant for us to be together and we did finally become a couple in June of 1981. We enjoyed many beautiful trips to the St Lawrence River. A place that Chad always considered his true home. It was there that he would love spending time with his extended family. We would gather there each summer with Jane and Dave, Jessica and Erik. Geoff and Judy and Melissa and Liz. If we were lucky enough, Mark and Lori and Billy and Maggie would show up. It was there he showed me how to love his precious River. It was there that he would spend countless hours getting the kids up on skis. He felt that knowing how to water ski was one of the traditions that needed to be passed on to be part of the Andrews family, you had to get up! We worked at achieving this goal as a team. Me staying in the water for countless hours giving advice and him in the boat waiting for those infamous words, “hit it!” Lia and Marisa, to their father’s delight, became master skiers by learning to ski on one ski. Time started to run out with Tori and Cj and Lia took up the slack for her dad and we eventually got Tori and Cj up. He loved taking the boat down River to Mary Island where we would picnic and jump off the rocks. To lose the River was a crushing blow that the family never got over. So we started taking 2 week vacations to other places like France, New England, California, Hawaii, Washington State, Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. As a couple we passed on our love for travel and adventure. I think we did a pretty good job at that too, since most of you know our children and see from their Facebook accounts that even at their young ages they have seen more of the world, than most people ever get to see in a life time. They have even seen more than me, which I will have to rectify.When Chad wasn’t at the River, you can find him working at Boeing as a software engineer. He worked there for 19.5 years until he had to retire. He once described to me the concept of unmanned drones, it was so futuristic at the time. A computer driving an unmanned small plane? He also worked on the refitting of the Comanche and the Osprey.Now if you knew the younger Chad, his dream was to play in a rock and roll band. He gave up that dream and went back to college at 25. He started with basic math at DCCC and wound up completing his Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering at Penn State. I was so proud of him. He did it for us, so that he could provide everything for his family. Don’t worry, while studying he also managed to play in his band on the weekends. He also enjoyed watching every Phillies and Eagle game and of course throw in the Flyers.He was a family guy, he didn’t go to bars after work. He came straight home and helped with the kids or mowed the lawn. He would love when friends and family showed up and would always be prepared with a “cold beverage”. He attended every softball, basketball, and soccer game and throw in dancing school and Girl Scouts and in later years Boy Scouts. We managed this as a team at first by dividing and conquering, but as the disease hit he became my first mate. Saturday and Sunday breakfast was always a big deal to him. Even in the later stages of the disease he was able to maintain the perfect cooking of the sausage and bacon, so that I would not wind up burning it. To say the least, I was devastated when Chad starting showing signs of Huntington’s. He handled it a lot better than me. He broke me out of my depression telling me that he was lucky, that he just knew what he was going to die from and most people don’t. I remember just looking at him when he said that. George Harrison also had died at the same time he was diagnosed and I remember thinking, he had all the money in the world to pay for care and couldn’t stop death either. He never really gave up living after the diagnosis, it just got harder for him to live to play his beloved guitars. He was still always present at ever event in our children’s lives. He sent them off to college one by one, and now has 3 out of 5 with Master’s Degrees and one entering her senior year of college. Our son will be entering his senior year of high school. He was always a proud dad as he should be. Together we managed to raise 5 children, who share his love of life and compassion for their fellow human being. Chad you were a wonderful father to our children. I wish this extremely rare disease would have skipped our family, but God had different plans. You always told the kids that they wouldn’t have to worry about this disease, because they will find a cure in their lifetime. I hope by your donation the cure will be found. May you hold the answer the researchers are looking for.Rest peacefully, Chad. No more suffering. Strum away at your guitar, sing with Judy, may your mom play cello in your new band in heaven and may the choir of angels be your backup singers. I will always remember your smile and your love you had for me and the children.Love you,BethRelatives and friends are invited to his Visitation on Monday, September 4 at 9 AM at Blessed Virgin Mary Church. 1101 Main St., Darby, PA 19023. Memorial Mass at 10 AM. Interment Private.Celebration of Life on Sunday, September 3 at 2 PM, 3058 Booth Drive, Garnet Valley, PA 19060In lieu of Flowers, contributions may be made to Charles R. Andrews, III, c/o Sharon Savings and Loan Assoc., 9 Chester Pike, Darby, PA 19023.