Mary Franklin Andrew

Mrs. Mary Franklin Andrew, 84, of Millen passed away peacefully Tuesday, April 29, 2025, on her family farm in Birdsville, G.A. with her children at her side. She was born in Millen, G.A., on May 30,1940, to Mary Perkins Franklin and Ben Franklin, Jr. and was taken home to the same farm where she would one day raise her own children.

Her passion for botany took root as a young child playing in the formal gardens and under the centurion live oaks of Birdsville. After graduating Jenkins County High School, she studied biology and education at the University of Georgia.

At age 20, she walked into her first classroom at Brown High School in West End, Atlanta and embarked on her 32-year life’s work and love as a science teacher. It was also in Atlanta that she was introduced to Jim Andrew on a blind date in 1961. They were wed three years later and in 1968 moved to Birdsville to begin their family and help operate the farm. They would raise their two children, Franklin and Bess, in Mary’s ancestral home.

Mary later returned to the classroom and to college, receiving a master’s degree from Georgia Southern. She taught seventh, ninth and tenth grades at Edmund Burke Academy and Jenkins High School, where she remained for 23 years.

Mary was devoted to her students and sharing her love of plants and biology with them. She remained in contact with her students over the decades and became lifelong friends with many.

Always a supporter of cultural learning, Mary was proud to have played a role in bringing Georgia Public Radio to the state in 1981 with the found of WSVH 91.3 FM Savannah.

Mary’s keen interest in the environment never waned and she remained extremely active well in her 80s, enjoying gardening and admiring native flora, fauna and trees in southeastern plains and along Georgia’s coast where she loved to visit Sapelo Island.

She was founding supporter of the 11-acre Botanical Garden at Georgia Southern and remained an active member of local garden clubs.

She was an active member of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church for 55 years.

Mary is predeceased by her husband of 50 years, James McRae Andrew; parents, Mary Perkins Franklin and Ben Franklin, Jr.; grandparents, Diana Perkins Taylor and Ira Perkins of Perkins, G.A. and Bessie Jones Franklin and Ben Franklin Sr. of Birdsville; and a brother, Ben Franklin, III. She is also predeceased by her sister, Kathryn Franklin Gruetter, who died at Birdsville one day prior.

She is survived by her children, James Franklin Andrew (Julie) of Augusta; Mary Elizabeth Andrew Thomas (Patrick) of Lexington SC; grandchildren, Addison Elizabeth Andrew, Dorothy Emeline Andrew, Albert Patrick Thomas, IV, Andrew Benjamin Thomas; and a sister, Frances Franklin Winslow (Geoffrey) of Birdsville.

A small family graveside service will be held at 3:00 P.M., Thursday, May 1 at the Birdsville Cemetery. A celebration of life will be scheduled at a subsequent date.

In lieu of flowers, donations made be made in memory of Mary to St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 515 South Liberty Street, Waynesboro, G.A. 30830

Condolences may be expressed at www.chapmanfhofswainsboro.com.

Chapman Funeral Home of Swainsboro is in charge of the arrangements for Mrs. Mary Franklin Andrew, 84, of Millen.