‘A life well-lived’

DENTON – The life of a well-known and respected member of the Caroline County community was remembered during a noon funeral service Saturday, June 28, 2025, at St. Luke’s Global Methodist Church in Denton.

Charles Louis Andrew of Denton passed away Saturday, June 21. He was 70 years old.

Offering the eulogy was Dr. Christian Jensen of Denton, who said, “Rest in peace, Charles Andrew, you had a life well-lived.”

Pastor Ronnie Cannon officiated at the worship service attended by over 100 people on the warm summer day. The committal service was private.

Prominent members of the community, as well as Sheriff Donnie Baker and deputies of the Caroline County Sheriff’s Office attended the service. Deputies took turns standing watch at the foot of the casket during the hour-long visitation, while slideshow of snapshots was projected on a large screen in the chancel.

Born in Easton, Charles Andrew was the son of Joyce Anne Baker Andrew of Denton and the late Louis Chance Andrew. He was a member of the Class of 1972 of North Caroline High School.

Following graduation, he worked as an auctioneer for his uncle Curtis Andrew, but in 1975 he began his law enforcement career as a Sheriff’s Deputy.

He was part of a law enforcement legacy of the Andrew family that lasted over a century in Caroline County. In 1921, his great-grandfather William Curtis Andrew became sheriff and served a 2-year term. His grandfather William E. Andrew served two terms from 1938 to 1961, interrupted by a 4-year interval. His father Louis Andrew served as sheriff from 1961 to 1994. Charles served as interim sheriff until Phil Brown was elected the following year. Charles’ son, Lt. Jacob Andrew, is the fifth generation to serve in the sheriff’s office.

As a child, Andrew lived in what is now the Andrew Building, the original center section of the current jail on Gay Street in Denton, where his mother cooked food for the detainees.

Jensen said “a greater challenge” awaited Andrew in 2008 when “he was appointed warden of our brand new Caroline County Detention Center” in 2008.

“One of Chuck's goals was to make the new detention center the first facility on the Eastern Shore to become certified by the National Society for Correctional Medicine. I was the jail physician, and we worked closely together on achieving that goal.”

“Chuck's interest was not only for the physical and the mental health of the prisoners, but for their spiritual needs, as well,” Jensen said. “It was through Chuck's personal intervention that it became possible for him to have weekly religious services in the detention center – still going on three decades later.”

Jensen called Andrew the “quintessential Eastern Shoreman.”

Tracing his ancestry to the earliest settlers of the middle and lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, Jensen said Andrew’s forebears settled in the county even before there was a Caroline County.

Andrew contracted polio as a boy and was partly immunized, Jensen said. “He was left with a permanently weakened and only partly useful leg, … but he didn't let that be a reason for his not trying to be all he could and do all he could.”

During the visitation, retired Denton attorney Walt Palmer, who graduated with Andrew, recalled hearing “his metal braces clanking down the hallway in (elementary) school, and he still played first base for the American Legion Little League.”

Andrew’s interest in local history prompted his deep involvement with the historic Linchester Mill in Preston and his presidency of the Caroline County Historical Society in 2023, which he held at the time of his death. He had been a Kansas City BBQ judge and was a board member and past vice president of the Caroline County Adult Day Care.

Speaking during the service, Rick and Cathy Schwab of the Ridgely Historical Society recalled their 20-year acquaintance with Andrew.

“He’s been a real treat and a real help,” Rick Schwab said. “He always used to say, ‘What you see is what you get,’ and “I like to keep things short and sweet,’” as many attendees nodded their heads.

“He stepped up, and we are so happy he did,” Cathy Schwab said. “He was a no-nonsense guy. … He did what he needed to do. We want to thank him and his family.”

She said Mickey McCrea placed a sign on the highway at Linchester Mill that reads, “Thank you, Charles. Gone, but always here. Just look around.”

“Chuck became interested in Civil War reenactment and attended many encampments, and he took his boys along and stimulated their interest in that as well,” Jensen said. He was a camp cook for the 2nd MD Infantry Co. PAX.

“Chuck, I always thought, demonstrated a lot of courage in facing life with his handicap and facing life with the burden of family traditions he had to live up to,” Jensen said. “And he completed a career of honorable service to our county and to his family and his family in Caroline Connie can be justly proud of him.”

In addition to his mother, Charles Andrew is survived by his wife Linda L. Andrew of Denton; two sons, Jacob C. Andrew (Renee Bounds) of Preston and Daniel L. Andrew (Melanie) of Denton; two stepsons Ron Jackson of West Virginia, and Hobie Duff (Kathy) of Frederica Delaware; his brother Richard Andrew (Susie) of Preston; his nephew Matthew Andrew of Preston and his children; 16 grandchildren and a great grandchild.

A bagpiper closed the service with traditional hymns and Irish music. Arrangements were made with Moore Funeral Home, P.A. of Denton.