Obituary of Monika W. Andrews

Andrews, Monika W., Brockport; October 31, age 69, after a lifetime serving her family and the needy, as a nurse; in the Peace Corps; building Habitat houses; running a food shelf and a shelter for homeless families; creating a handicapped-accessible public playground; and volunteering at hospices, a shelter for homeless women, a Dominican Republic health project, a help line, Meals-on-Wheels, a wellness center and many other outreach programs at Incarnate Word Lutheran Church. Survivors are her husband of 42 years, William G.; sons William G. Jr.(Alison), Edwin B.(Marilyn), C. Scott(Chloe), and Thomas N. (girlfriend Karen); daughters Dona (Martin) Rifken and Jennifer (William) Hughes; grandchildren Andrew, Kate, and Ben Rifken; Ben and Rebecca Hughes; and Nathan, Alec, Aidan, Nicholas, Joshua, Jeremiah, Sophie and Jasper Andrews; and sponsored Guatemalans Edgard and Rosaria; sisters Christine and Gabriele Wickert and Eva Imhof, brother Max (Katka) Wickert; Bill's sisters and their husbands and many nieces and nephews. She organized family reunions and vacations and trips throughout the U.S. and to fifteen European countries, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana, Peru, Costa Rico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Dominican Republic, Mexico, New Zealand, Borneo, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, China, Turkey, Thailand, and Taiwan. She was an avid tennis player, hiker, swimmer, and bicyclist, having pedaled 100 miles in a day twice, 400 miles on the Canalway Trail twice, the Katy Trail, and 250 miles along the Danube. She hiked 191 miles across England, the Grand Canyon, the Inca Trail in Peru, and the Milford Track in New Zealand; and climbed several 46ers in the ADKs and Pico Duarte in the DR. Monika was a beautiful woman in every way and her vibrant energy, loving compassion, and sunny disposition will be sorely missed by all who knew her. Calling hours, 2-4 and 7-9, Thursday, November 3, Funeral service at Incarnate Word Lutheran Church, 597 East Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14607, 2 pm, Friday, November 4, 2011. Please honor her memory with gifts to Incarnate Word and Isaiah House, 71 Prince Street, Rochester, NY 14605.