Duane Edward McAndrews, '62

obit_duane_mcandrews_600x800Duane Edward McAndrews, '62, passed away on July 15, 2020 in Omaha, Nebraska.  Lifetime Member.

McAndrews, Duane E. September 18, 1943 - July 15, 2020 Survived by wife, Mary Helen; children, Jill Coddington (Bruce) and Jason; three grandchildren: Laura, James and Liam; siblings: Jeanne Johnston (John), Carole Farris, Judy Johnson (Dick), Tim McAndrews (Cheryl) and Dennis McAndrews (Leslie); nieces and nephews.
 
Duane was inducted into the Boys Town Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 2012.  The following is the biography written for the award ceremony.  When Duane came to Boys Town from Omaha in September of 1957, he knew he wanted to be involved with the Cowboys athletic teams. His first experience was on the eighth grade basketball team.  As a freshman, Skip Palrang, legendary Boys Town coach, gave McAndrews advice about making it in athletics.  “Coach Palrang knew I wanted to play sports and he bluntly told me that to be competitive for the traveling teams at Boys Town I had to keep my grades up,” McAndrews said. “I never missed a traveling squad game in any of the sports I played.”
 
McAndrews was a three-year varsity letterman in football, basketball and baseball. He was a commissioner in the Boys Town self-government system, city clerk, class vice president as a junior, and secretary as a senior. He was also president of the B-Club. As a senior, he led the Cowboys scoring 313 points and set a basketball scoring record. He was inducted into the Boys Town basketball team Hall of Fame for his efforts.
 
After graduation, McAndrews worked in Omaha until joining the Army. He deployed to Vietnam as a member of the 1st Cavalry and during fierce fighting was wounded, earning three purple hearts, two Army Commendation Medals with the “V” device for valor and three Bronze Stars, two with a “V” for valor.  An Omaha World-Herald article in 1968 told his story; “His unit had come under enemy fire when McAndrews noticed that one of his comrades had fallen from heat exhaustion. The young soldier picked up his unconscious comrade and carried him 80 yards to safety exposing himself to enemy fire all the way.” Exposed to Agent Orange, he is dealing with the medical issues to this day.
 
McAndrews previously worked at Boys Town and as a financial manager for an automobile sales company. He also loves the game of golf. He likes to remind his many alumni brothers that his foursome won the very first alumni golf tournament. He credits Boys Town for giving him the foundation in life to be successful and to deal with his challenging medical condition.

VISITATION following CDC guidelines: Sunday, July 19th from 3pm to 5pm, at the West Center Chapel followed by VIGIL SERVICE at 5pm. MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL: Monday, July 20th, 10:30am, St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church (14330 Eagle Run Dr.) ENTOMBMENT: Calvary Mausoleum I with military honors.

Memorials are suggested to the Wounded Warrior Project or Bethlehem House.