Dee Ann Davidson Andrews, former Picayune Item lifestyle editor, passed away Feb. 16 in Lubbock, Texas.
She is the wife of retired Item publisher, Tom Andrews.
The pair met while working at the Item and would have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on March 2, he said.
According to her obituary, she was born on March 2 1945 to Eugene Neil and Alma Jean Davidson in Chicago, Illinois.
She graduated as valedictorian from Abernathy High School in 1963.
She was a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi and Loyola School of Law and practiced law for 10 years before retiring, her obituary states.
Dee Andrews’ career as lifestyle editor began in the early 1980s, her husband said.
“Her first story was on Zesto’s Hamburger Shop,” he said. “She won several Mississippi Press Association awards and won a statewide community services award for her series on prom and alcohol. She also wrote a staff column once a week about her experiences in Picayune, children and home stories.”
Dee Andrews is survived by her mother Alma Jean Davidson of Lubbock, Texas, two daughters, Rebecca Ann Hope of McKinney, Texas and Kristine Nguyen and husband Tuan of Fort Worth, Texas, her son Mark Austin O’Neil of Picayune, 13 grandchildren, one great-granddaughter, sister, Laura Holland and husband, Gary, of Abilene, Texas, brother, Neil Davidson and wife Roseanna of Flanagan, Illinois and cousins Lee and Fran Jackson and Tere Violet, all of Abernathy, Texas.
“She was really outgoing and personable,” Tom Andrews said of his wife. “She always wanted to help people and tried her very best. She was a great one for Facebook and author of the blog Finding Directions: The New Wind Vane Chronicles. She spent quite a lot of time writing.”
There has been a tremendous response to her passing, her husband said.
“I didn’t realize how many lives she touched,” he said. “There have been a ton of responses on Facebook. She always corresponded with many people she had never met and was always full of encouragement. Everybody liked her.”
The family asks that memorial donations be made to the American Diabetes Association, P.O. Box 11454, Alexandria, VA 22312.