Rev. William "Bill" Andes '35, who was honored with Elon's Service to Church and Society Award in 2007, died Jan. 26. He was the husband of former Elon staff member Lucile Stone Andes.
The family will receive friends at the Parish House of Elon Community United Church of Christ on Wednesday, Jan. 28, from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Elon Community United Church of Christ on Thursday, Jan. 29, at 10 a.m.
A 1935 graduate of Elon, Andes entered seminary at Duke University later that year, graduating in 1940 before serving the United Church of Christ for the next four decades as pastor of churches in Ruffin, Winston-Salem and Elon, N.C.
The Elon resident also served as an elementary school principal during a teacher shortage in the 1940s, volunteered his time to local ministerial associations throughout his career and is as a longtime member of the Elon Exchange Club. As pastor of Elon Community Church from 1954 to 1966, Andes oversaw the completion of the church’s first sanctuary, education building and parsonage and ministered to children at Elon Homes for Children and students at Elon College.
The entrance plaza of the church was named the William J. Andes and Lucile Stone Plaza in 2002 in honor of the longtime Elon supporter and his second wife, a university staff member whom he married in 1999, two years after the death of his first wife, Carey. The Rev. Dr. William J. Andes ’35 Endowed Scholarship at Elon University assists student leaders who reach out to new or isolated students to make them feel a part of the community.