Charles L. "Andy" Spratt

Charles L. “Andy” Spratt, 90, of Danville, passed away Sunday, May 31st, 2020, at Boone Memorial Hospital in Madison, following a long illness.
Andy is survived by his wife of 67 years Nelda (Mitchell); his daughters Lue Anne Horton of Madison, and Andrea Fink (Pat) of Laurel, Maryland; his son, Charles E. Spratt of Danville; brother Robert (JoAnn) of North Carolina; his grandchildren Lauren Roeder (Mark) of Lexington, Virginia, Christopher Fink (Chris) of Columbia, Maryland, Jill Horton of Madison, Kayde Sharp of Marlinton, and CJ Spratt of Eastman, Georgia. Andy is also survived by eight great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and eight siblings: Dan, Jack, Joy, Marguerite, Betty, June, Richard, and Naomi.
Andy was born on June 19th, 1929 in Van, West Virginia to Cecil E. and Bradie Spratt (Dickens). He graduated from Van High School in 1948 and served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force from 1949 to 1952. He was a combat veteran during the Korean Conflict, where he was a forward deployed electronics engineer installing ground-based aircraft navigational equipment at unimproved airstrips. Following his discharge from the military, he attended and graduated from Radio and Television School in Detroit, Michigan, where he then carried his electronics engineering skillset to the civilian world and worked as a Technical Representative for PHILCO Corp. in the upper Midwest states until 1962, when he was recruited by the National Security Agency (NSA) where he served the country with distinction for the next 27 years, working on cryptologic systems until retiring as a GS-15 in 1989. His career took him the world over (filling-up six passports in the process) and allowed Andy and his family to live in faraway places such as Japan and England. Following his retirement, Andy & Nelda settled down in the Summersville area for a few years before deciding to re-locate to their roots and to be closer to family in Boone County.
Andy’s other love (behind God and his wife & family) was going to the family camp in Pocahontas County to fish on the Greenbrier River and North Fork of Deer Creek. He was also an active and dedicated member of the Madison United Methodist Church, and often volunteered as an usher and maintained & operated the church’s sound system.
Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, June 4th between 1pm and 2pm at Handley Funeral Home in Danville, with military honors and a burial to immediately follow at Memory Gardens Cemetery. Rick Swearengin and Tex Frye will officiate the ceremony, and Timothy Spratt will sing some of Andy’s favorite songs.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Andy’s name to Madison United Methodist Church, 367 State Street, Madison, WV 25130. Condolences can be sent to 59 Beulah Street, Danville, WV, 25053 or www.handleyfh.com. The family would like to thank the staff, doctors, and especially the nurses at Boone Memorial Hospital for their effort & compassion with Andy’s care.