Grafton/Petersburgh – Andrea Lynn Whitelaw, 41, of 18 Woodland Road, Niantic, CT, passed away Friday, April 3, 2009, at the Lawrence & Memorial Hospital, New London, CT. Andrea was born on July 19, 1967, in Troy, NY, the daughter of Gordon (Gunny) Gundrum and Elizabeth Styles Cooper.
A graduate of Emma Willard School in Troy, she attended the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY, and received her degrees in Journalism and Anthropology. For many years she was employed as a healthcare consultant at St. Anthony Publishing, a contract publisher, and then as an in-house publisher at WindStar Communications. On August 10, 1991, in Troy, she married Nicholas Spencer Whitelaw.
Andrea was energetic and athletic. She studied ballet for 15 years and practiced with the New York City Ballet in Saratoga Springs, NY. She had a vagabond spirit and loved to travel. Her adult life was centered around her husband and two sons. She volunteered for many years at the Lillie B. Haynes Elementary School where she received the 2004-2005 Educators Award for her work with the school’s book fairs. She was a recipient of the 2006 Volunteer of the Year Award from Connecticut Association of Elementary School Principals for work she did assisting children having difficulties with reading and math.
Andrea was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in 2004 and traveled twice to Washington, DC, for Advocacy Day, where patients and their delegates seek support of their representatives to act on issues that affect the lives of all ALS patients around the country. Andrea and her family were recipients of the 2008 David Grimshaw Beacon of Light Award presented by the ALS Association, Connecticut Chapter, for volunteering at the ALS support groups. Andrea’s spiritual journey led her to the Niantic Community Church where she made many friends and received much comfort and support.
In addition to her husband of 17 years, she is survived by her loving sons, Spencer Lucas, sixteen, and Michael Justin, thirteen, Whitelaw, all of Niantic, two brothers, Eric S. Gundrum and his wife Cristin and their son Aiden of San Jose, CA, and Keith E. Freihofer and his wife Cathleen of Alexandria, VA, her father, Gordon (Gunny) Gundrum and his wife Joan of Petersburgh, NY, her mother, Elizabeth (Sandra) Cooper and her husband Norman of Oro Valley, AZ, her paternal grandmother, Charlotte Momrow of Troy, and her husband’s parents, Michael and Diana Whitelaw of Niantic. She is pre-deceased by her maternal grandmother, Ruby Styles.
A memorial service will be held at 2 pm, Saturday, April 25, at Niantic Community Church, 170 Pennsylvania Avenue, Niantic.
An additional memorial service will be held at 2 pm, Saturday, May 2, at the Grafton Methodist Church, Rt. 2 and South Road, Grafton, NY. A gathering at the Church hall of friends and family will follow the service.
Interment will be private. There are no calling hours.
Kindly omit flowers. Donations in Andrea’s memory may be made to the ALS Association Connecticut Chapter, Four Oxford Road, Unit D-4, Milford, CT, 06460.
Thomas L. Neilan & Sons Funeral Homes, 48 Grand Street, New London, has been entrusted with funeral arrangements. To send the family an online condolence, please visit Andrea’s online guest book at www.neilanfuneralhome.com.