Obituary: John Andrew Gurney

John Andrew Gurney passed away on July 20, 2011 at Bayonet Point Medical Center in Hudson, Florida from complications of lung cancer. He was 74.

Andy, as he was known by his friends, was born October 21, 1936 in Brooklyn to John Rodney and Dorothy J. Gurney, who predeceased him. He grew up in Garden City and spent summers on Shelter Island.

In 1955, he left the Hackley School in Tarrytown to join the U.S. Navy. He served four years as a submariner aboard theUSS Croaker. After his discharge from the Navy, he attended RCA Electronics School in New York and went to work for General Electric Corp. installing and repairing X-ray machines. In the 1970s, he went to work for CGR, doing the same job. He resided in Wyandanch at the time and served in the Wyandanch Fire Department. He was scoutmaster for his eldest son’s troop. He was elected a member of the Order of the Arrow.

In the early 1980s, he relocated to Shelter Island. He worked at Shelter Island Hardware, served in the Shelter Island Heights Fire Department and assisted with Boy Scout Troop 56. He was one of the volunteers who built the Red Cross ambulance building on Manwaring Road in 1981.

He returned to California in the mid-1980s and resided there until 2007, at which time he moved to Florida to live with his son, James.

He is survived by his sons James and Scott, both of Florida; his brother Fredric (Ric) of Shelter Island; sister-in-law Gayle of Shelter Island; nephew David and niece Meredith of Shelter Island; their spouses, Laura and Brett, and three great-nieces.

A memorial service was held in Florida and burial will be at St. Mary’s  Cemetery on Shelter Island at a later date.