This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Andrew Nelson Sparks died peacefully at his home in Deep River on Sept. 9 with his beloved wife of 69 years, Marilyn (Mike) Sparks, at his side.

Andrew and Mike moved to Deep River in 2016 to live with their daughter Stacey Sparks and their son-in-law Roger Williams. They left behind the village of Olmsted Falls, Ohio, to which they had devoted decades of service. Andrew was instrumental in writing the city’s charter, ran the local library book sale, served on the town’s Civil Service Commission and Ethics Commission, and chaired the Planning Commission. In 2011, he was named Citizen of the Year.

Born in 1926, Andrew grew up in Akron, Ohio, the son of Charles Nelson and Grace Pugh Sparks. Commissioned at the age of nineteen, he served in the Navy in both World War II and the Korean War. Between the wars, Andrew completed his B.A. in English at Ohio Wesleyan University, completed the coursework for his master’s degree, taught in the University’s English department, and married Marilyn Joan Quay. He was released from active duty in the Navy in 1953, shortly before the birth of his first child.

Over the next 60 years, Andrew lived a life dedicated to his family, his profession, his community, and his friends. Highlights of his life were the many trips he and Mike took to England, during which they explored bookstores and old churches together. He read to his children every night when they were young, and supported them unfailingly through every stage of life. For nearly 60 years, he drew upon his love of words and his broad range of knowledge to become a superb lexicographer and eventually supervising editor of Webster’s New World Dictionary. He led a Great Books discussion group for fifty years. He collected so many books that he had to add an addition to his house and convert a barn to hold them all. He loved jazz, baseball, and dogs.

Andrew’s greatest achievement was that he was so loved by so many. No fewer than nine boys were named after him—only two of them family members. His gentleness, his wit, his integrity, his elegance, and his total lack of prejudice or pettiness made him an unparalleled husband, father, friend, and mentor.

He leaves behind his wife Mike, and his three children and their spouses, Stacey Kate Sparks (Roger Williams) of Deep River; Bennett William Sparks (Angela Park) of Norwich, Vermont; and Hilary Quay Sparks-Roberts (Kevin Roberts) of Olmsted Falls, Ohio. In addition, he leaves his loving grandchildren Dinah and Emery Williams, Quay and Conor Andrew Roberts, and Georgia and Andrew Thelonious Sparks. He also leaves his half-sister Babette (Betsy) Brandt of Topsham, Maine.

His family expresses their deep gratitude to the skilled and kind caregivers who helped him at the end of his life. Donations in memory of Andy can be made to the Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation (https://louisarmstrongfoundation.org/donate/).