Born premature and wasn't supposed to live but live he did! As a young man he sailed the Pacific Ocean on the USS Kearsarge for Vietnam. He loved the service and camaraderie so much he joined the Air Force Reserves where he retired MSgt. As he said, “What I didn’t see in the Navy I saw in the Air Force.”
When he came home from the Navy he joined another group, Reliance Electric in Athens, GA, where he worked for 40 years. So many of his dear friends worked with him here. Friends that have stuck with him to the end.
He started a family and had two beautiful daughters, Kimberly Carey (Richard, Morgan) and Stephanie Dawson (Britt, Andon, Addi).
He and his surviving wife, Ginger Luke, have a son, Luke Andrews. He was lucky to have a strong, loving, fun family with lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. He was the oldest of three brothers, Scott Andrews (Linda), and Lane Andrews (Janet).
Billy enjoyed traveling and car shows. He could transform a bucket of bolts into a show worthy ride. Family and friends would take their rides together to local and away car shows where he loved talking shop and sharing advice to other car enthusiasts.
It's impossible to sum up a man's life but if you were lucky enough to have bumped into Billy, he would have given a big smile, and you would have known he had been blessed with a life well-lived.
Funeral services will be held Monday, December 30, at 1:00 p.m., in the Bernstein Funeral Home Chapel. Interment will be in Evergreen Memorial Park.
Pallbearers will be Nathan Luke, Bryant Singleton, Richard Carey, Britt Dawson, Reilly Tedder and Austin Payne.
The family will receive friends Sunday, December 29, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., at Bernstein Funeral Home.
Bernstein Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
