Judge Gary Blaylock Andrews
Longtime Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Gary Blaylock Andrews died at his Chickamauga, Ga., home at age 73 on Saturday.
Judge Andrews was born in Chattanooga to the late Jones Garnett and Nancy Blaylock Andrews. He was a lifelong resident of Walker County and a member of the First Baptist Church of Chickamauga. He graduated from Gordon Lee Memorial High School - Class of 1964. He received his Bachelor of Business Administration in accounting from the University of Georgia in 1968 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Georgia Law School in 1971.
In 1981, he was named one of Georgia's five outstanding young men by the Georgia Jaycees. He was also a member of Leadership Georgia, Class of 1986.
Judge Andrews began his legal career in 1971 as an Assistant Attorney General with the Office of the Attorney General for the state of Georgia. From 1976 to 1980, he served as a Special Assistant Attorney General while maintaining a private law practice. In 1980, he was elected Superior Court Judge for the Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit of the Seventh Superior Court District, and then re-elected in 1984. In 1985, Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed Judge Andrews as a Commissioner on the Georgia Public Service Commission, a position he held until he was elected to the Georgia Court of Appeals in 1990, 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014. His last term on the Court would have ended on December 31, 2020. Judge Andrews instead chose to retire from the Court in July 2018. He served as Chief Judge of the Court from 1997 to 1998.
Judge Andrews was a member of the State Bar of Georgia and the Lookout Mountain Bar Association. In his free time, he enjoyed playing golf and cheering on his Georgia Bulldawgs.
He continued to live on his grandfather's farm at Chickamauga and drive to Atlanta for his duties on the court.
Along with his parents, he was preceded in death by his sister, Jane Andrews Sadler.
He is survived by his children: Paige Andrews of Suwanee, Ga., Blake (Tiffany) Andrews of Atlanta, and Blane (Heather) Andrews of Chattanooga; brothers: Joe (Linda) Andrews of Chickamauga, Calvin (Jan) Andrews of Chickamauga, and several nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are by Wilson Funeral Homes - J. Avery Bryan Chapel, Chickamauga.