WILMINGTON — Walter Ronald Andrews Jr. of Wilmington, NC passed away on March 1, 2025 surrounded by family at Trinity Grove.
Born June 15, 1934 in Youngstown, OH, he was the son of the late Walter and Ann Andrews. Walt graduated form Fitch High School in Youngstown where he was class president and played four varsity sports. He attended Youngstown College for one year; he then transferred to The Ohio State University graduating with a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1957. In 1977, he graduated night school from the University of Richmond with a Masters in Commerce.
He had a 44-year career with DuPont in polymers and textile fibers that included time spent on nylon tubing, Lycra solvent recovery, Nomex yarn and paper, multi-colored Nylon yarns leading to StainMaster carpet and airbags. He worked onsite for the build out and start up of a number of major polyester yarn plants globally including ones in India, Indonesia, and Turkey. He had 4 individual patents and co-authored 6 others.
Walt was active with his children in sports including many years as baseball coach and swim team starter. He was also an active volunteer including lending a hand in the build out of more than 125 Habitat for Humanity homes along with many W.A.R.M projects, hurricane ‘muck outs’ and assembled hundreds of bikes at the Salvation Army Christmas Shop. He was a frequent judge for the high school Senior Projects and the STEM projects at UNCW. In parallel with all of this, he also was very active in the church and found time to donate over 3 gallons of blood through the years. Walt always tried to be a good example.
Walt is survived by his high school sweetheart and wife of 68 years, Eunice. She is an artist and Walt did the matting and framing for her numerous paintings. Eunice and Walt made many trips in conjunction with his work at DuPont and also as vacationers. Over the years, they traveled to 40 countries and also extensively across the US. Trips were frequently made with local friends. He is also survived by his 3 children: Julie Sears (husband, Chuck), Patti Turner (husband, Rick), and son Michael Andrews (wife, Laura). He was also blessed with 3 grandchildren: Nate Turner, Alyssa Andrews, and Carson Andrews. Walt also had one, great-great grandchild, Mason Gray Turner. Walt’s living siblings include Carol Murray (husband, Bob) and Susie Parker (husband, Harry). He was preceded in death by his sister Marguerite. He was blessed to be part of the lives of numerous nieces, nephews, friends, and relatives from his ancestorial Lithuania.
A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 7th, 2025 at Wrightsville United Methodist Church, 4 Live Oak Drive, Wrightsville, NC, 28480. (910) -256-4471
Walt would be delighted to have his life celebrated through donations to the Cape Fear Habitat for Humanity, 3310 Frederickson Rd, Wilmington, NC 28401 or Salvation Army Cape Fear.
