Valentina Ivanova Andraos

Valentina Ivanova Andraos passed away peacefully on November 27, 2021 surrounded by her loving family. A resident of Springfield, VA for nearly forty years, she spent her entire career as a medical doctor.

Valentina was born to Ivan and Tatiana Panfilova on February 19, 1941 in a small farming village in rural north central Soviet Union. She was the youngest of four daughters, and at age sixteen, she left home to join a youth work program where she laid railroad tracks in the Ural Mountains. She was the first person in her entire family to attend college, and she graduated as a medical doctor from the People’s Friendship University in Moscow. She lived primarily in Moscow before moving to Uganda to serve as a medical doctor in the country’s capital, Kampala.

From Uganda, Valentina courageously fled the Soviet Union by way of Germany, where she lived for two years and worked for the Liberty Radio Network transcribing radio messages for the West. After two years in Germany, she immigrated to the United States with the help and support of the Tolstoy Foundation. Valentina lived with a deeply caring host family in South Carolina before moving to Massachusetts, Maryland and, finally, Virginia as she worked to pass her medical boards and complete her medical residency program.

In the early 1980s Valentina joined the United States Army Reserve, where she served in one of the main Army medical hospitals in Germany during Desert Storm 1 in 1991. She went on to spend the majority of her career at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Southeast DC. Valentina worked tirelessly and she always cared deeply for her patients. She married Andy Andraos on July 31, 1983 and they enjoyed a loving marriage until his passing in 2009.

In the words of a dear friend, to know Valentina was to love her. She balanced her Russian strength and toughness with a gentle heart, inquisitive mind, and free spirit. Valentina valued education, hard work and discipline yet understood the importance of leisure time, developing deep friendships and caring for others. She loved nature and was particularly attracted to old forests, like those in the Ural Mountains. She cherished animals and was always able to make instant connections with any creatures she encountered. We will miss her big heart, her unwavering support, her tenacity and her consistent phone calls to check in on us.

Valentina is survived by her sons, Khalil and Jalil Andraos as well as her four grandchildren. A service will be held in her honor on Sunday, December 12, at 2PM at the National Funeral Home: 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church, VA. Please note that all attendees are required to wear a mask while indoors. For those who plan to attend the service, we ask that you please bring a single flower to create a collection of arrangements that honor her love for bright colors and nonconformity; any type of flower and any size are welcome.

Also, for those who would like to make a charitable gift in her honor, donations may be made to the World Wildlife Fund: https://support.worldwildlife.org/site/Donation2?df_id=13830&13830.donation=form1&s_src=AWE2206OQ18618A05876RX