Duane Neil Andrews M.D.

Memorial services for Dr. Duane Neil Andrews, 86, of Tyler will be held on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. in Marvin Methodist Church’s Pirtle Hall with Dr. Doug Baker, Rev. Jack Cox and Rev. Randy Hageman officiating. A light luncheon reception will follow at the church. Dr. Andrews passed away Saturday, June 1 in his home. He was born November 6, 1937, in his grandmother’s house in Crosby, Texas to Edgar and Angel Lee Andrews. Born and reared in Alvin, Texas, the son of schoolteacher parents, he earned the Order of the Arrow as an Explorer Scout, and worked hard growing up, paying income tax since age 13. In high school, he was the recipient of the American Legion Award (awarded to one boy annually), class president, and inducted into the National Honor Society as an eleventh grader, played varsity football, and was voted “best all around”. Duane considered being accepted to Rice Institute as the greatest honor of his young life, and said they were his hardest and best academic years. While attending Rice, Duane re-met childhood acquaintance Patty Sparling, and they married in 1961. Aided by his Rice education, he was ranked #1 in his first year at Baylor College of Medicine. He was one of four inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha honor medical society as a junior medical student and graduated with High Honors. He then served a rotating internship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, where he fell in love with surgery. After beginning a residency in surgery, he enlisted in the Air Force during the Vietnam War and served two years at Mountain Home, Idaho AFB as a flight surgeon, and as a USAF surgeon at the base hospital. Duane returned to a residency in general surgery at Parkland, where he felt he received excellent training in many different areas of the specialty: vascular, thoracic, lung, abdominal, cancer surgery, and emergency surgery. He served as an adjunct professor of surgery at Parkland, mentoring and training surgery residents alongside him in Tyler, in rotation. He served as assistant director of the of the Department of Surgery and director of Intensive Care and Emergency Services at John Peter Smith Hospital in Forth Worth. He was intensively active in the training of surgery and medical residents throughout his life. During his almost 50 years practicing in Tyler, Duane consistently worked 100 hours each week, operating with skill that grew and innovated every year, taking cases others would not, never saying no unless truly necessary. He took his own calls and did the aftercare for each patient. He conducted all the histories and physical examinations in great detail, because he believed that when you understood a person you could help them more effectively. He made hospital rounds with great care and at length, returning over again - at night, and anytime he deemed needed - believing this was the key to successful outcomes. The extent to which he served others would not have been possible without the steadfast support of his loving wife, Patty, who believed so deeply in the importance of his work. He operated alone, except for an anesthetist, operating room nurses, and a faithful and skilled surgical technician of more than 30 years, Debbie Carlyle, whom he said became as skilled as any surgeon. Until the hospital gave up the procedure, he performed kidney transplants for 15 years, with the highest success rate in Texas, and possibly beyond. He performed with much success the 6-12 hour Whipple procedure on the head of the pancreas. Many of the surgeries he performed were not done by anyone else between here and Dallas or Houston, and then only by surgeons who limit their practice to one procedure. He did more Whipple procedures than most Whipple surgeons, more kidney transplants than most kidney transplant surgeons, and more lung surgery than most lung surgeons. And he made house calls. He never turned anyone down for lack of money. In fact, he at times paid for hotel rooms for convalescing or indigent family members, and even bought a recliner for at least one patient to help in his recovery, all without anyone knowing until the patients themselves shared the stories. He carried a comb in his pocket and would comb hair or shave faces because “people recover better when they feel good.” Not wealthy, Duane nevertheless gave away most of his money. His daughters recently learned that every time he got a check for doing a kidney transplant, he took it straight over to St. Paul’s and donated it. Because he cared deeply, he initiated the request for the establishment of hospice care in the area (Hospice of East Texas – the only non-profit hospice around – who then took beautiful care of him the last weeks of his life). He also established the first volunteer home repair and home building project in Tyler for indigent homeowners – not only planning it, preparing for it, choosing projects, gathering materials, and recruiting workers, but working fervently himself, usually on the roof. For more than 35 years, Mission Week has been an annual week-long event involving hundreds of volunteers each year. Duane also initiated and largely financed the expansion of an existing church after-school program in North Tyler into St. Paul Children’s Services - with a medical clinic, a dental clinic, counseling services, a food pantry, a clothes closet, two parks, a Santa’s workshop for Christmas gifts, Khakis for Kids, a summer lunch program, a weekend food backpack program, a school supply program – all without cost to recipients. He planted and maintained a garden for people in the neighborhood, and carried lawn equipment in his truck so he could mow the grounds between surgeries. A lifelong committed Methodist, much of his volunteer work has been through the church, serving both physically and financially, and in leadership positions: chairman of the Administrative Board, delegate to Annual Conference, delegate to the denomination-wide General Conference, member of the Episcopacy committee advising the bishop, and lay leader for a large area of churches. He served on the Missions Commission and was board chairman of Lakeview Methodist Conference Center for 13 years, heavily financing a new cafeteria and other needs, and volunteering as camp doctor and grass mower. Duane also served on the board of directors of The Methodist Hospital for 15 years, and on the board of The Methodist Children’s Home for three years. Though highly accomplished and innovative, he never put himself in a position to be recognized and was sheepish about any awards given him. Nevertheless, he has been honored and recognized with awards such as Chamber of Commerce T.B. Butler Award for outstanding citizen; Smith County Medical Society Gold Cane Award for highest medical standards; East Texas Communities Foundation Volunteer of The Year Award; East Texas School of Nursing Doctor of the Year Award; Bethesda (charity) Clinic Doctor Luke Award; Texas Annual Conference Hispanic Services Award; and an invitation to membership in the Texas Surgical Society. His family cherishes his legacy of sacrificial giving, and of taking the “road less traveled,” fueled by the convictions of his faith, and his personal fortitude. Duane was preceded in death by his parents, sister Martha, and brother Donald, as well as his beloved wife of almost 62 years, Patty last year. He is survived by his daughters Susan Andrews Hageman (Randy) and Allison Andrews (Michael Adams); grandchildren Kathryn Hageman Holmes (Patrick), Caroline Thompson, Andrew Thompson (Sarah Grace), and William Hageman; great-grandchildren Charlotte and Ella Holmes; sister-in-law Helena Sparling; nieces and nephews Dr. Gretchen Andrews (Roger Hassol), Jon Sparling (Sarah), William Sparling (Elizabeth), David Sparling, and Sarah Sparling; and great nieces and nephews Max, Rose, Perry, Clara, George, Mary, and William Wesley. Pallbearers will be Andrew Thompson, William Hageman, Jon Sparling, William Sparling, David Sparling, Michael Adams, and Patrick Holmes. Honorary Pallbearers include Dr. Douglas Coltman, friend, colleague and personal physician; Debbie Carlyle; Keshia Dunkin; Roger Worden; Ben Clark; Jay Olson; Dr. Eric Smith; Dr. James Holton; Dr. Scott Middleton; Dr. Don Smith; the myriad compassionate hospital doctors and staff who shared his sense of mission in medicine, for whom he had deepest love, respect, and appreciation; St. Paul Methodist Church and Children’s Services; Lakeview Methodist Camp staff; and Pairs and Parents Sunday School Class. The family is especially grateful to Lee Reese who was by Duane’s side and coordinated his care in the last months of his life with Malinda “Ludy” Johnson, Charolette Y McGee, and Ronnie Calloway. There are not words to express enough gratitude for their conscientious and loving care of Dr. Andrews. If desired, memorials may be made to the cherished and vital ministries of St. Paul Children’s Services (www.stpaulchildren.org), Lakeview Methodist Conference Center (https://lakeviewmcc.org), or Marvin Methodist Church (https://Marvin.church).

Duane Neil Andrews M.D.

November 6, 1937 - June 1, 2024