It is with great sadness that I report the death of Eddie Andrassy who passed away in hospital last Thursday evening. Eddie had been a member of the Wakefield Naturalists’ Society for many years, (probably the longest serving member of us all at present) and was a close personal friend of mine and to many of our members. Heather and I became good friends with him when we joined the Society c.1983 and he struck me as a very good-natured man. Eddie served on the committee for many years and his last stint was as publicity officer where he put his talents as an artist to good use in producing posters which he then distributed around various hides. Eddie enjoyed his artwork immensely and he employed his skills freely to illustrate many of the society’s publications that were produced in the 80s and 90s. He created the Society logo of the great crested grebe which we have used for many years now on the programme cards and other publications.
Eddie was the last of the (in)famous team of Wakefield Nats members that used to visit Spurn Point a great deal and it was on one of these visits that Eddie, along with Dorothy Walls, Philip Harrison and David Proctor and Barry Spence (the then warden), found a Tengmalm’s owl at the point. For reasons never understood, it was suppressed and news never broke until it had gone leaving the four of them in an unenviable position for many years to come! Eddie had been a birdwatcher all his life and I remember him telling me of the time he went to Norfolk to see the first ever pair of collared doves to nest in Britain – no mean feat in the 50s!
In more recent years, Eddie turned more to his art as his mobility began to be less than it was and I followed his posts on Twitter for the past couple of years as he posted copies of his latest art creations. I have taken the liberty of reproducing some here so that we may all enjoy them one last time while thinking of a good friend that is no longer with us. Our thoughts go out to Eddie’s wife Shirley and the Andrassy family.
Black-tailed godwits by Eddie Andrassy
Fieldfare by Eddie Andrassy
Sunrise over a wetland by Eddie Andrassy