Shelley Andrews was one of the kindest, most thoughtful and most effective laborers in our community. Her work with the Friends of Moccasin Bend was exemplary. She listened, she learned and she led with dignity and class.
Her brave battle with ovarian cancer was a testament to her positive spirit and commitment to her work on behalf of the people of this region.
On behalf of the many lives she touched and enhanced, my family shares in the grief of her loss with her family and friends. Heaven truly has received an angel in Shelley Andrews. She will be missed by all.
Zach Wamp
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Well, Zach, you nailed it. Shelley was the kind of leader who accomplished great things by surrounding herself with friends, supporters, public agencies, and other non-profits to accomplish something that had been a great idea for over 100 years (Adolf Ochs was the first to try). She did this with a spirit of cooperation and persuasion that is the model for how to do things like this. Success here won for the good folks at the National Military Park is a win on a national scale, including our Cherokee friends from Tahlequah, the seat of the Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma. This new unit adds some 10,000 years of depth and human history to the awesome body of work of the staff of the Chickamauga/Chattanooga Military Park, which was the first of its kind. Achieving the gold standard of National Park protection for this site across the river from our resurgent downtown and next door to the thriving North Shore neighborhood is no mean feat.
I had a chance last week to walk on the trail now available on the land that we (the Trust for Public Land) bought from Rock Tenn, grinning ear-to ear. The Serodino tract is 10 glorious acres where the interpretive center will someday be built. Michael Wurzell, the new director of the Friends of Mocassin Bend National Park, has a huge set of shoes to fill. Based on his terrific work with the Lula Lake Land Trust, I have no doubt that he will be successful.
This person was lovely in every way that a person can be described in that way. I will always think of the things that we accomplished together, and smile.
Bobby Davenport
Shelley’s real estate guy