Last week I went to Jamestown for a cup of tea with Con­nie Andrews at her lovely, old home, over­look­ing the East Pas­sage of Nar­ra­gansett Bay. We were going to dis­cuss some ideas for SRI (did touch on them lightly) before we got car­ried away in ani­mated conversation.

Con­nie grew up in New­port. Her father was a doc­tor, her mother, Ellen Spooner Gladding Young, a grad­u­ate of RISD, who gave up a promis­ing career as a painter in favor of mar­riage and moth­er­hood. Some of her paint­ings are at the Vereika Gallery on Belle­vue Avenue in Newport.

Con­nie received her BS in Music from Yale Uni­ver­sity School of Music in 1943. In those days Yale did not accept female under­grad­u­ates. Her soon-​​to-​​be hus­band, Nigel Andrews, grad­u­ated the same year with a degree in law from Yale University.

Ten years later, with two small chil­dren and an Irish set­ter, Connie’s hus­band left the prac­tice of law to study for min­istry in the Epis­co­pal Church at Berke­ley Divin­ity School in New Haven. Thus began a very remark­able and suc­cess­ful 50-​​year career as an Epis­co­pal priest.

In 1965, while Rec­tor of Trin­ity Church in Con­cord, MA, Nigel, despite crit­i­cism from some in his parish, made the free­dom walk from Selma to Mont­gomery, Alabama. I have a copy of the ser­mon he gave to the parish upon his return. It is truly inspirational.

The love of music has both con­sumed and enriched much of Connie’s life. Just some high­lights: She was Music Direc­tor of the mag­nif­i­cent Swan­hurst Choir for a num­ber of years. She was organ­ist and choir direc­tor at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Saun­der­stown. She’s presently deeply involved in the music pro­gram at Trin­ity Church in Newport.

Yes, just bits and pieces from a won­der­ful life, but wouldn’t you like to go back for another cup of tea and a chance to fill in some of the blanks? She has some mem­o­rable sto­ries to tell. You might also be treated to her famous tea cook­ies … I stole the recipe for you.

Con­nies Famous Tea Cook­ies
1 stick but­ter
1 stick marg.
1 cup sugar
Gra­ham crack­ers
Chopped nuts

Mix but­ter, marg­er­ine and sugar together in sauce pan and bring to rolling boil. Line up gra­ham crack­ers on a cookie sheet. Sprin­kle with chopped nuts. Pour boil­ing sauce over. Place in 350˚ oven for ten min­utes. Delicious!