Andrea Marie (McManus) McKee passed away on December 24, 2024, following a brief illness. She was 80 years old.
Andrea was the third of five girls, born to parents Julian and Oma McManus, who raised their daughters in Los Angeles, California. There, her family was active in their church, and they devoted much of their time to making music together. The five girls all played different musical instruments – Andrea played the violin, while her sisters played various other instruments, including a B-flat clarinet. She loved to tell stories about her father packing the five of them (and their instruments) into their car, and taking them ‘back home’ to Missouri for vacation, where they’d play songs (adjusted for the B-flat clarinet) to all of their relatives.
As a young woman, Andrea moved to Cambridge, Mass, with her first husband, Dennis. There they had their first child (Charlotte), and she began painting seriously, developing her techniques with oils, acrylics and watercolors. With a growing family (including their second child, Alanna), they soon moved to Coronado, California. During this part of Andrea’s life, she was a professional artist, selling her paintings through galleries in Los Angeles.
Eventually Andrea moved to the Silicon Valley, where she lived with her second husband, Charles McLaughlin, for 40 years. During this time, she devoted her creative talents to writing, and became a technical writer for a software company.
During retirement, Andrea’s passion for playing music came alive again. Though she’d continuously played piano throughout her life, she then took up several new instruments. She became particularly fond of the harmonica, the bass, and the ukelele, and taught classes in all of these instruments at one time or another. She loved the challenge of trying to figure out the best way to teach music to others, and one of her biggest joys was to sing and play music with other people.
Andrea’s husband, Charles McLaughlin, passed away three years ago, and she is survived by her loving children Dr. Charlotte McKee and Alanna McKee, their husbands Dr. Mark Proctor and John Poelker (respectively), and her four grandchildren – Dr. Max McKee-Proctor, Ken McKee-Proctor, Greg Poelker-McKee, and Elise Poelker-McKee – and also by her younger sister, Susan Sherrill, who lives in Dexter, Michigan, with her family, and was the one who played the B-flat clarinet many years ago.
Andrea was a sweet and gentle soul, and had a strong faith. She will be dearly missed.