Dr. Thad Leggett Andrews was known as the kind of dentist who naturally brought a smile to your face.
“He was just the finest gentleman there ever was,” said longtime family friend Elizabeth Melton.
Dr. Andrews passed away at Indywood Glen Personal Care Home on Tuesday at the age of 87.
Services for Dr. Andrews will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday at Wilson & Knight Funeral Home. Graveside services will follow at 11 a.m. at Sidon Cemetery.
Gaylen Howell, Dr. Andrews’ stepdaughter, said his love of his family was closely followed by his sense of humor and his devotion to helping others.
“He had a servant’s heart,” she said.
She recalled how her son, Taylor, reacted to Dr. Andrews’ death: “My son said, ‘He was the kindest and most humble man I’ve ever known.’”
Melton said even after Dr. Andrews moved to Indywood, his concern for others was constant: “He would say, ‘Is there anything that I can do for you?’”
“No matter what kind of day he was having, he would say, ‘I’m doing well. I’m doing fine.’ He was always concerned about the other person,” said Jay Matthews, a nurse with Grace Hospice of Greenwood.
Dr. Andrews retired from dentistry in 2008. “When he retired, the greatest thing he missed was the people,” Gaylen Howell said.
The son of Fred Clifton and Pauline Overcash Andrews of Magnolia, Dr. Andrews graduated from Marion Military Institute and then attended the University of Mississippi beginning at the age of 16.
He majored in chemistry and biology, graduating in May 1948. He went on to the Emory University School of Dentistry in Atlanta, where he graduated in 1952.
Dr. Andrews served in the U.S. Air Force Dental Corps and was stationed at Prestwick, Scotland, during the Korean War.
On returning to the United States, he practiced in Lexington from 1955 to 1956 and then in Greenwood from 1957 to 2008.
A member of First Presbyterian Church of Greenwood, Dr. Andrews served four terms as a church elder.
He moved to Indywood in February 2014, Howell said.
In November 2011, Dr.
Andrews lost his wife, Alice Herring Andrews.
“They were devoted to each other and the church. They were examples for everybody. They just don’t come any finer,” Melton said.
His devotion to his two stepdaughters was also strong, according to Matthews.
“He had a fondness for his daughters. He was just so fond of his family,” she said.
Dr. Andrews is also survived by stepdaughter Jeanie Johnson of Flowood as well as a number of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.
Visitation will be from 9:30 a.m. Friday until the time of services at the funeral home.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
