Helen Evelyn (Budnick) Andrews, 1919-2001
HELEN EVELYN (BUDNICK) ANDREWS was born on 20
December 1919 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the oldest of two girls to parents
Charles Henry Budnick and Florence V. (Pierce) Budnick.[1] She married Robert Earl Andrews on 28 March
1936 in Trenton, New Jersey, when she was just 16 years old.[2] She died of respiratory failure caused by
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) on 6 June 2001.[3]
Helen lived her early life with her parents and two
half-brothers Charles and Harry Budnick, children of her father’s first
marriage, on Upland Street in Philadelphia.
She continued to live in the same house until her marriage on 28 March
1936 to Robert, when they moved into a home on Wheeler Street, just minutes
away from her family home. Her mother
Florence was a witness at her wedding; parental consent was required for someone
so young. Children came quickly into the
couple’s life, with Robert Earl Jr arriving on 14 September 1936, and Charles
Warren on 14 May 1938.
Charles shares this story about his mother’s cooking skills:
“Mom was a basic cook. We didn’t
have anything out of the ordinary. If we
had pork chops it was always cooked the same way. It was always good but she didn’t experiment. She probably found a way to cook it that
everybody liked. Mom liked liver, nobody
else did, but we had liver every once in a while. You ate what was on the
table, if you didn’t like it you ate it anyway.”[4]
With mother duties at such a young age, she probably didn’t
have time for outside activities.
However, when the boys were older, Helen volunteered and held a
job. Son Charles remembers:
“Mom got a job at S.S. Kresge, a
5&10 store in Upper Darby, when my brother Bob went to college [late
1950s]. Sometimes I would take her to work and we would have coffee together in
the store before it opened. She started out as a sales person and later became
assistant to the manager.”[5]
In the 1960s-1970s, Helen worked in the cafeteria at the
Primos-Secane Elementary School in Primos, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, a
short walk from her home.[6] This author and her siblings were students
there at the time, and remember that she used to sneak us special treats when
we purchased our school lunches (an extra pudding was always welcome!). She also volunteered her time as Treasurer of
the Women’s Auxiliary of the Primos-Secane Fire Co. No. 5, [7]
and was a member of the Trinity Presbyterian Church Ladies Auxiliary.
Helen’s husband Robert died on 20 August 1972, leaving Helen
with her teenage son Edward to raise.
She continued to live in her home on Primos Avenue, Primos, Delaware
County, Pennsylvania, with Edward until her health problems necessitated a move
to St. Francis Country House (a nursing home) in Darby, Delaware County,
Pennsylvania in the late 1990s. This
author remembers her grandmother as a heavy cigarette smoker, and was told that
she started smoking at 14 years old.
This would have contributed significantly to the breathing difficulties
she suffered later in life. She had
trouble just getting out of her bed in the morning, but when living at home she
still would have a cigarette before her first cup of coffee. She had to quit smoking when she was finally
put on oxygen, and then moved into the care of the staff at St. Francis.
On 6 June 2001, Helen died at Fitzgerald Mercy Hospital,
Darby, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, of respiratory failure. Her COPD, with additional complications of
diabetes and breast cancer, all contributed to her death. She is buried beside her husband in Glenwood
Memorial Gardens, Broomall, Delaware County, Pennsylvania.[8]
[1]. Westminster
Presbyterian Church (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Certificate of Baptism, dated
4 April 1920, for Helen Evelyn Budnick, copy provided to author by family.
[2].
New Jersey Certificate of Marriage no.
526 (1936), Robert Earl Andrews and Helen Evelyn Budnick; Department of Health,
Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, Trenton.
[3]. Pennsylvania Certificate of Death no. P
7500063 (2001), Helen E. Andrews; Department of Health, Vital Statistics, New
Castle.
[4]. Charles
Warren Andrews, "Family History Questionnaire," written interview
document, 27 December 2020; copy in author's file, Winter Springs, Florida.
[6]. “Helen E.
Andrews, 81, Secane resident; former cafeteria worker,” obituary, clipping
provided to author by Helen’s son, unknown newspaper, dated soon after 6 June
2001; photocopy in author’s file, Winter Springs, Florida.
[7]. “Auxiliary Installs New Officers,” Delaware
County Daily Times (Delaware County, Pennsylvania), 7 June 1968, p.12,
col.8; image, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/image/23672224/ : viewed 13 December 2020).
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