[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 49 (Monday, March 23, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E739]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                HONORING THE MEMORY OF J.W. ANDREWS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                             HON. JO BONNER

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 23, 2009

  Mr. BONNER. Madam Speaker, the city of Jackson and, indeed, the 
entire State of Alabama recently lost a dear friend, and I rise today 
to honor J.W. Andrews, Jr., and pay tribute to his memory.
  Born in Prestwick, Alabama, Mr. Andrews married Ida Virginia Tiggs 
Andrews in 1937, and the two were married nearly 55 years when she 
died. He began his career as a machine operator at a veneer mill before 
becoming an insurance agent for Unity Burial Life Insurance Co. in the 
early 1950s. By the end of the decade, he had become manager of the 
company as well as of the accompanying Unity Funeral Home. In the mid-
1970s, Mr. Andrews and his wife purchased the funeral home, which 
became Andrews Funeral Home in 1986. The couple also owned Andrews 
Flower and Gift Shop.
  During the 1960s, Mr. Andrews became active in both politics and the 
civil rights movement in Clarke County. He traveled to various 
communities holding voter registration classes, helping familiarize 
residents with the voter questionnaire used by the Board of Registrars. 
He was also a longtime president of the Clarke County Voters League, an 
organization formed to promote and protect the voting rights of African 
Americans.
  Mr. Andrews was instrumental in the formation of several county 
commission and school board districts, which provided African Americans 
representation on those boards. In 1985, Mr. Andrews became one of the 
first two African Americans to be elected to serve on the Jackson City 
Council, a seat he held for 14 years. He was also the first African 
American to serve on the Clarke County Board of Education.
  In recognition of his many achievements, the city of Jackson honored 
Mr. Andrews by rededicating State Highway 177 from the end of Commerce 
Street to U.S. 43 as the ``J.W. Andrews Highway.'' In 1997, he was 
honored as the Civitan Club's 47th ``Citizen of the Year.''
  Mr. Andrews was an active member of his church, St. Union Baptist 
Church in Jackson. He served as a deacon for more than 50 years as well 
as treasurer, Sunday school superintendent, and choir member. For more 
than 50 years, he served as host of the Sunday morning radio programs 
``Spiritual Time'' and later ``Early Morning Gospel'' on WHOD-FM. He 
also served as an Alabama Democratic Conference chairman for more than 
35 years.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in remembering a 
dedicated community leader and friend to many throughout south Alabama. 
J.W. Andrews, Jr., will be dearly missed by his family--his children, 
William Wesley Andrews, Sr., Hattie Virginia Sampson, Carl Gregory 
Andrews, and Harriette Andrews Douglas; his sister, Jessie Mae Jackson; 
his 11 grandchildren; his 22 great-grandchildren; and his seven great-
great-grandchildren--as well as the countless friends he leaves behind.
  Our thoughts and prayers are with them all during this difficult 
time.

                          ____________________