Andrew Lynwood Eastman, 76, of Eastman, N.H. and South Bristol, succumbed to prostate cancer on June 23.
He was born on Aug. 3, 1936 in Barre, Vt., the son of Theodore R. and Juliane (Bjorn) Eastman. He was an only child.
Andy attended public schools in Barre and was co-captain of his high school ski team. He attended Tufts University where he was a member of The Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and co-captain of the ski team. He graduated from Tufts in 1958 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. He hired into the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, and stayed with Goodyear until he retired in 1998 with the exception of three months spent in the U.S. armed forces.
Andy married Ruth Ann Hesselschwerdt of Milton, Mass. on Oct. 18, 1959. They originally resided in North Canton, Ohio where Andy continued his engineering studies at night school at the University of Akron, graduating in 1964 with a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering. In 1966 Andy completed the requirements for and became a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Ohio.
While later residing in Ohio they had two children, Cynthia Louise, born in 1962 and Douglas Timothy, born in 1964. While in Ohio, Andy and Ruth Ann continued skiing and instructing at the local ski areas and in 1964 Andy won the class “A” men’s division of the Ohio State Championships.
In 1966 Andy was assigned to the design and construction of the mechanical systems for a new Goodyear plant being built in Danville, Va. The family moved to Danville and resided there for the 14 months it took to build and to put the plant into production. In 1968 Andy was assigned to be project manager for an expansion at the Goodyear plant in Mexico. He later was promoted to manager of engineering where he remained for over six years.
Next he moved to Brazil to be manager of engineering in Goodyear’s newest plant in Americana. After two years in Brazil he was promoted to manager of engineering in Goodyear’s largest international plant in Wolverhampton, England. After six years in England he returned to corporate headquarters in Akron where he held several managerial positions in facilities and environmental engineering for the corporation. During his time there he made facilities investment evaluations for plants in Japan, China, Hungary, Philippines and Mexico. During the last 10 years in Akron he led Goodyear and the tire industry in addressing the scrap tire problem that plagued the industry at that time.
Andy loved singing, was a member of high school and college choruses, a member of church choirs and barbershop quartets in all of the countries where he lived. In Grantham, N.H. he was a member in the KCPC Church Choir and the Eastmanairs singing group.
In 1999 Andy and Ruth Ann moved to Grantham where they designed their own home in Eastman, and did all of the interior woodwork themselves. Andy was a member and former Elder of the Kearsarge Presbyterian Church in New London. He was on the Grantham Conservation Committee where he led the successful effort in establishing GPS coordinates for all of the town’s boundaries. He was on the Eastman Recreation Committee where he led the development of several cross country ski trails and hiking trails in Eastman. He held a downhill season pass at Mount Sunapee and raced in the Craftsbury cross country ski marathon for 10 years. He was a graduate of the 2002 class of NH Natural Resource Volunteers. He was a member of SPNHF and served as Land Steward for the Reney Forest in Grantham.
Andy, like his wife, was an avid fly fisherman and tied many of his own flies. He fished at the Lake Mansfield Trout Club for almost 70 years. He and Ruth Ann fly fished at the family’s summer cottage in Maine and caught up to 750 striped bass on the fly rod in one summer. They took many cherished trips to Pittsburgh, N.H. where they fished the beautiful back bogs and Boundary Pond. Their most treasured fishing trip was a trip to Alaska in 1997. They took a float plane to the Aniak Lake and floated in bail less rafts down the 100 miles of the Aniak River in seven days catching rainbow trout, char and salmon.
Andy had wonderful memories of his family. They took ski trips together to the Alps while they lived in England, hiked the Long Trail in Vermont during summer vacations, and visited their parents in Vermont and Maine during their home leaves. Later they took regular trips to see his son and family in Ohio and daughter and family in Texas.
Members of the surviving family include his wife of 53 years, Ruth Ann (Hesselschwerdt) Eastman of Grantham; son, Douglas Eastman, spouse Andrea of Granville, Ohio and their children Chelsea and Amanda; and daughter, Cynthia Martin, spouse Stanley of Royse City, Tex., and their children, Melissa, Stanley T., Joshua, Lydia, Karl, Dominic, and Joseph.
The funeral will be at 1 p.m., Wed., June 26, Kearsarge Community Presbyterian Church, 82 King Hill Rd., New London, N.H. Reception to follow at South Cove Activity Center at Eastman, 25 Road Around The Lake, Eastman/Grantham, N.H.
Gifts in place of flowers may be sent to South Bristol Volunteer Fire Department, PO Box 150, 27 Middle Rd., South Bristol, ME 04568.
