Thomas Warren Andrews, service time 1957-1962
Jan Christensen
When Tom was a young child he loved the movie Don Winslow of the Navy. He thought being in the navy sounded exciting, never thinking he would be part of it. As the youngest of three boys, all interested in the military, he decided to apply to the Coast Guard Academy. Tom was denied entry even after passing the academic exam. He failed the medical exam because of a heart murmur. His request for a second medical re-exam was also denied. But good results were found after his visit to the suggested cardiologist. His heart murmur was not that serious.
This turned out to be a good thing. He had just received a Congressional appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. With the cardiologist’s report in hand, passing both the medical exam and the academic exam at Annapolis, Tom was in The U.S. Naval Academy.
Tom’s first assignment after graduation was to serve in the Mediterranean on the USS Randolph CVA15, an aircraft carrier. After 18 months duty on the Randolph, Tom wanted to try another part of the Navy: the submarines. Off he went to New London, Connecticut where he attended submarine school for six months. His stint of three years on USS Rock SSR274, a submarine based in San Diego, CA, satisfied his spirit of adventure to places like Japan and up the coast to Alaska. He now began to think perhaps he might marry some day and have children and wanted to spend time with them as young children. He thought about returning to school to get an MBA at the University of Mississippi where his father was a professor of Mechanical Engineering or begin to look for work in the business world. So in July of 1962 he gave up his military life and began networking to find a job.
It was back to school for Tom. This time it was computer school at IBM. It was a good choice for Tom again. In 1967 he met his lovely wife Carol, also working at IBM. Working with your spouse was frowned upon at IBM, so Carol left IBM and started her own computer software business. Upon retirement from IBM in 1991, Tom worked for Carol’s business until they both retired in 2000 when Carol sold her business.
Tom and Carol have a son in Tucson, AZ and a daughter and grandchild in Seattle, WA. They moved to SBR after meeting Kerstin and Art (deceased) Seifert on a cruise in 2006. The Seiferts had moved to the Ranch in 2012. After Tom and Carol came to the Ranch for a visit, saw the activities and the friendly people, they moved to the Ranch in 2014.
Tom said his training in the military prepared him for the important aspects of life. His training taught him responsibility, how to make good decisions, commitment and integrity. All these attributes are seen today in both Tom and Carol.