Elizabeth "B.D." McAndrew

Elizabeth Daniel Weil McAndrew was born on the 28th of July 1945, in Sinton, Texas, to parents Harvey Weil and Frances Utley Weil. She was the eldest sister of her beloved siblings Chuck Weil, Ada Fish, and Cita Breitenwischer. “Bessie Dan,” as she was known growing up in Corpus Christi, attended St. Patrick’s school and then Incarnate Word Academy for high school. Upon graduation, she went to Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio for her first year of college. She then transferred to the University of Texas at Austin, where she was a member of Zeta Tau Alpha and served as Pledge Trainer.

It was at UT where a ‘match date’ between her sorority and the Phi Delta Theta fraternity led her to the love of her life, Ben “Mac” McAndrew. Their family is blessed to have a picture from that first date, shown above. While his friends saw a resemblance between them and teased Mac about dating his ‘sister,’ this pair of squinting lovebirds knew quickly they were in it for the long haul. Mac asked Harvey for Bessie Dan’s hand in marriage in the kitchen of the family ranch outside of Hebbronville, and Bessie Dan and Mac were married at the Corpus Christi Cathedral on the 5th of July 1968.

They began their married life in Austin as they both completed graduate programs. Bessie Dan obtained her Master’s Degree in Spanish. They moved to New York City in 1969, and Bessie Dan taught Spanish at an all-boys high school in the Big Apple. It was during their time in NYC that Bessie Dan acquired a new nickname: friends there just couldn’t stomach the southern “Bessie Dan” and started calling her “B.D.,” an additional nickname she embraced.

B.D. ended her teaching career with the arrival of their daughter, Laura Elizabeth McAndrew Van Slyke, but she would continue to serve others in countless ways for the rest of her life.

Their son, Robert Bonnell McAndrew, was also born in NYC, shortly before Mac and B.D. decided it was time to come home to Texas. They found a house in Hunters Creek Village in Houston, and established the loving home base that would be theirs for the rest of B.D.’s life.

In Houston, B.D. was involved in community endeavors too numerous to list, but particular passions included serving on the board of the Ronald McDonald House (as well as a hands-on volunteer for many, many years) and the board of the Depression and Bipolar Society of Houston, now known as re:MIND. She was deeply involved in the schools her children attended, serving more than once as PTA President, and she also volunteered extensively through the Junior League of Houston. She was a member of St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church, and later St. Michael’s Catholic Church.

B.D.’s faith defined her, and she instilled in her children an understanding that service to others was part of God’s calling to each of us. She was small in stature but large in her love, and always strong in standing up for others. She shared so generously of herself with the community.

B.D. was a devoted and loyal friend, as numerous loved-ones can attest. She had a wide circle of friends throughout her life, and cherished them all – her high school friends, her Zeta friends, her NYC friends, the Box Moms and all her ‘mom’ friends, her book club, and so many other dear friends in Houston. She was known as someone who would always be there when needed, in hard times as well as good times.

She also had a great sense of humor, and loved a practical joke. During the course of her long illness, her family particularly treasured hearing the stories of B.D.’s dedication to her friends. No celebration of B.D.’s life would be complete without noting the great love B.D. had for her four-legged friends as well – her dogs were much loved and spoiled parts of her life.

Finally, B.D. loved her family with a grand passion. She would do anything for them. Her children and grandchildren consider the love story between B.D. and Mac to be one of the greatest of all times. B.D. was utterly devoted to Mac and all her family. When her daughter Laura told her that they were moving (temporarily, thankfully!) to Rhode Island with her first grandchild, B.D. was sad for about five minutes and then announced that she would make sure that she was there at least once every six weeks. And she was. Likewise, when her son Rob moved to Argentina, she and Mac simply made regular travel to South America a part of their lives. Her children grew up in the garden of B.D.’s unconditional love, and it sustains them to this day. Her grandchildren, Madeleine and Bess, were likewise blessed to experience the largesse of their “Bebe’s” love, as she spent untold precious hours and days with them before her illness. B.D.’s sisters and brother were beloved to her throughout her life, and she loved being aunt to their children as well. Her love is imprinted on all of those who knew and loved her.

B.D. is survived by her husband of almost 54 years, Mac McAndrew; as well as her son, Rob McAndrew, daughter Laura McAndrew Van Slyke and her husband Scott; and grandchildren, Madeleine and Bess Van Slyke. She is also survived by her siblings, Chuck Weil and his wife Debra, Ada Fish and her husband Robert, and Cita Breitenwischer and her husband Kirk; as well as nieces and nephews Gabe Goodman, Cullen Goodman, Charlie Weil, Megan Breitenwischer Goldfarb, Frances Weil Pearce, Rachel Breitenwischer, and Ali Goodman Nasir, and their spouses; and a whole new generation of great-nieces and nephews.

She is likewise survived by friends near and far who were part of the family of her heart, and who also stood by her and her family through her long illness. The last years of B.D.’s life were marked by the heart-ache of Alzheimer’s, but that in no way takes away from a life so very well-lived and well-loved. B.D. taught all of us to find the silver linings during hard times, and she leaves us with so many of them, even now. We are so thankful that she was, and is, ours. We know that she is rejoicing to be re-united with her memories as well as her loved ones in Heaven, and we rejoice knowing that we will see her fully there again.

The family would like to thank her caregivers who tended so lovingly to B.D. during these hard years of illness, and were with her until her last days: Cynthia Martinez, Priscilla Brown, Beverly Welch, and Dorothy Briscoe. Thank you, also, to the family and friends who helped in innumerable ways. We are so thankful for each of you.

A Mass of Christian Burial is to be offered at ten o’clock in the morning on Saturday, the 21st of May 2022, at St. Michael The Archangel Catholic Church, 1801 Sage Road in Houston.

The Rite of Committal is to follow, via an escorted cortege, at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family asks that memorial contributions in her name be directed to the Elizabeth “B.D.” McAndrew Fund at Ronald McDonald House Houston. This fund will support one of B.D.’s favorite charities by supporting children and their families receiving treatment in the Texas Medical Center. Memorial Contributions may be made by mail, 1907 Holcombe Blvd, Houston, TX 77030, by telephone 713-795-3562, or online at rmhhouston.org/donate and selecting the Elizabeth “B.D.” McAndrew Fund on the donation page.