Concord, NH – Patricia Amanda Andrews died April 13, 2026 at Granite VNA Hospice House in Concord, NH. Born on September 23, 1939, in Easton, Pennsylvania, to Robert T. and Gertrude C. Andrews, Pat moved with her family to Chichester, NH in 1952 and eventually settled in Concord where Pat graduated from Concord High School in 1957. After her graduation from Russell Sage College in 1961, Pat earned an MS in biochemistry at Indiana University in 1965 and her MD at Indiana University School of Medicine in 1967. Her postdoctoral studies included residencies in pediatrics at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Hanover, NH as well as in pediatric neurology at Indiana University Medical Center.
Following her postgraduate residencies, Pat dedicated her professional life to caring for children with developmental disabilities. In addition to holding faculty appointments in maternal and child health, and in pediatrics and psychiatry at Dartmouth Medical School, she founded the Child Development Program at the medical center in 1971 and served as its director until 1982. From 1985 until 2003, Pat served as a staff physician in the Program. In the interim, from 1982 to 1984, Pat held the position of Medical Director of Laconia State School and Training Center, and later, from 1995 to 2000, served as Director of the School Partnership Program at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield, NH.
Pat lent her expertise as a consultant to many regional, state, community, and institutional committees including the Bureau of Special Medical Services, New Hampshire Division of Public Health Services; Governor’s Commission of Laws Affecting Children; Philbrook Center, New Hampshire Hospital; Section of Special Education, NH Department of Education; NH Occupational Therapy Advisory Committee; School Nurse Achievement Program Advisory Board; NH State Board of Education’s Task Force on Special Education; and the Spaulding Youth Center Board of Incorporators. Over the course of her career, Pat gave well over two hundred presentations on medical topics relating to developmental disabilities to parent groups, special education teams, and to educational, mental health, and therapy professionals. She held school nurses, occupational and physical therapists, and speech and language therapists in highest esteem.
Dr. Andrews provided care, treatment, and guidance to developmentally disabled children and their families throughout New Hampshire and northern New England for over 30 years. She was a pioneer who sought to make life better for children with developmental disabilities, one child at a time, with teams of therapists, care givers, family members, teachers, and aides.
Pat received a number of awards recognizing her outstanding dedication including an Honorary Degree, Doctor of Science by Russell Sage College in 1988; the Pediatrician of the Year in 1997 by the NH Pediatric Society; Outstanding Advocate for Children by the National School Psychologists Association in 2001; and also in 2001, Child Health Advocate Award, NH School Nurses Association.
Pat was an active volunteer with Opera North, the Grantham Historical Society, Abbot-Downing Society, the Concord Community Concert Association and Friends of the Audi. Upon her retirement in 2003, Pat turned her attention to her love of opera, fine art, travel, and to her family: sister Sue Thomas and brother-in-law Stephen of Concord; brother Robert James Andrews and sister-in-law Nancy of Portsmouth; nieces Catherine Kaplan (Dan) of Concord, Jennifer Ellsworth (Jeff) of Hopkinton, Rebecca Thomas (Eileen Fair) of North Sutton, and nephew Charles Thomas (Jen) of Tiverton, RI. Pat enjoyed time spent with great-nieces and nephews Miranda and Henry Kaplan, Megan and Tom Ellsworth, Cooper, Noah, and Caroline Thomas.
Her family extends our deepest thanks to Dana Dow, friend and caregiver, the staff of Havenwood-Heritage Heights, of Concord Hospital 5 East including Dr. Aliss and Dr. Fulton, and of the Granite VNA Hospice House for your care and support of Pat and her family.
A celebration of Pat’s life will be held on Friday, June 19, 2026, at the Carriage House, Kimball Jenkins Estate in Concord, NH, from 2:30 to 5:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Pope Memorial SPCA of Concord-Merrimack County or the Granite VNA Hospice House Concord.
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