Obituary: Andrea Jo Lewyn Krakovsky

Andrea “Andie” Jo Lewyn Krakovsky, 71, of Sapphire, N.C. (formerly of Atlanta, Ga.) passed away on Monday, Sept. 7 in Asheville, N.C. She was a vivacious, beautiful, intelligent, deeply caring woman who will be eternally missed by the many who loved and adored her.

Andie was born in Atlanta to Bert and Esther Lewyn on May 22, 1955. She attended W. F. Dykes High School and The Westminster Schools. Andie graduated with her bachelor of science in nursing from Emory University (1976) and went on to receive her master’s of science in nursing from the University of Virginia (1982) where she was a proud member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing.

Andie married the love of her life, Ed Krakovsky, on April 7, 1990, at The Temple in Atlanta. From early on in their marriage, the two often escaped the city northward for the mountains, hiking North Carolina’s deciduous forests with their young children strapped to their backs. They also made time to travel together further afield, making new friends and experiencing other cultures on trips to Ireland, England, Alaska, Cuba, and elsewhere. Andie and Ed loved sharing life’s simple pleasures: antique shopping; walking their dogs (a proud line of golden retrievers, all sadly passed: Beau, Tucker, Reuben, and Lacey); and, in recent years, enjoying a cup of coffee together every single morning on their screened-in-porch amidst the treetops.

As a mother, Andie’s parenting was marked by warmth, playfulness, and endless creativity. She hid fairy notes in the garden written in her perfect, miniscule handwriting, made endless costumes for Purim and Halloween, and dressed her children impeccably with her peerless sense of style. While often silly and sweet, she also took her children seriously, eschewing baby talk, supporting their growth by treating them like they were already capable. She believed in her kids, and in herself as a mother, creating a sense of a mom who always knew how to make it better.

Andie worked admirably for over 40 years as a neonatal nurse practitioner, extending her loving and empathetic nature towards the thousands of premature infants she cared for over her career. She loved babies and was one of the longest-serving neonatal NPs in the Emory Healthcare system, where she served at Grady, CHOA, Crawford Long and elsewhere.

An avid equestrian from a young age, Andie loved nothing more than spending time with her off-track thoroughbred, “Call Me Ferdinand,” affectionately known as Ferdie, going for trail rides and caring for him in the barn. In the past 20 years, she returned to her youthful passion for horses and won many ribbons in (cruelty-free) fox hunting, English-style jumping, and other events. Horseback riding was not only one of the greatest joys of Andie’s life, but a source of lifelong friendship and community, from Bits & Bytes farm in Canton, Ga., to her and Ed’s beloved Bald Rock community.

In March of 2024, she and Ed left their longtime home in Atlanta for the verdant Sapphire Valley Mountains. The two of them spent years designing and dreaming their new home into being, and the gorgeous mountain home is a testament to Andie’s sublime sense of style and eye for charming rustic details. Andie and Ed found happiness and community in Sapphire, hiking with wonderful new friends on the Panthertown Valley trails, hosting and attending lively gatherings, and hunting local craft fairs and estate sales for new treasures to add to their home. Andie was rarely happier than sitting on the porch watching wild creatures go by: deer, turkey, black bears, crows, and especially, foxes.

Andie was preceded in death by her parents, Bert and Esther Lewyn. She is survived by her husband, Ed; her children, Jake and Sloan; her brother, Larry; her brother and sister-in-law, Marc and Bev; her sister, Cindy; her brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Helen; and her nieces, Alexandra, Rachel, Sarah, and Rebecca.

Funeral services and interment were held at 11 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, at Arlington Memorial Park in Sandy Springs, Ga., with Rabbi Peter Berg of The Temple officiating. Arrangements are by Dressler’s Jewish Funeral Care, 770-451-4999.