Andrew Konnerth Jr. departed this life on February, 7, 2021, also the 74th anniversary of his 63 year marriage to his late wife Jean M. Konnerth. He passed away peacefully at Crystal Lake Re-habilitation in Pascoag, RI at the age of 99, due to complications from COVID-19. He leaves behind his children Karen Konnerth of New Orleans, LA, Lynn Konnerth of Stoneham, MA and Andrew Konnerth III of North Smithfield, RI. His loving grandchildren are Flora (Shepherd) Petterson of New Orleans, LA, Kyle Shepherd of New Orleans LA, Dora Maxwell of Freder-icksburg, VA, Ellen Maxwell of Stoneham, MA, and Michael D. Konnerth of Pascoag, RI. Additionally he has 8 great grandchildren.
Born in Erie, PA, January 19, 1922, Andrew was raised primarily in central Florida. His father Andrew Konnerth, was a skilled woodworker from Saxon Transylvania, his mother Alice Rubine Skinner, a teacher. He enlisted in the US Navy and served from 1942-1946. Married in 1947, he studied biology at Southern Methodist University as well as later earning a Masters degree at Boston University. He enjoyed working in that field on the Manhattan Project, at Wards Scien-tific, Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, Woods Whole Oceanographic Institute and re-tired from Tufts University Veterinary Program. Post retirement he and Jean spent many years preparing, restoring and articulating whale skeletons for various museum displays. These include the Boston Aquarium, Baltimore National Aquarium, Nantucket Whaling Museum, New Bed-ford Whaling Museum, and Hawaii Maritime Center.
He remained a life long avid reader with interests ranging from mythology, to animal behavior, to cartoons and other humor, to politics, and to his favorite poem, Omar Khayyam’s The Rubaiyat. He also maintained a woodworking bench and tools for a wide variety of projects. He was an adventurous and enthusiastic cook who enjoyed his culinary creations. And he loved telling stories of his life experiences, of which he had a truly remarkable memory.
Andrew and Jean were dedicated to life long learning and enjoyed traveling together, especially the “blue roads” on any map. They loved the adventure of moving to new locales and making new friends, having had homes in New York City, Dallas, Texas, Pittsburgh, PA, Penfield, NY, Sudbury, West Falmouth, Woods Hole, Weston, and Mattapoisett, MA, Albuquerque, NM. and Andrew spent 10 years in New Orleans after Jean’s death near daughter Karen before returning to New England, near Lynn and Drew.
Donations may be made in Andrew’s memory to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU, or to any public library.
Photo by Alicja Mann