John H. Andrus II, 83, of Ocean City went to be with the Lord the morning of May 15, 2024. He died peacefully at home, surrounded by his family, after a 4-year battle with metastatic prostate cancer.
John was born in Camden, NJ to Dr. David L. Andrus and Bertha Morrison Andrus. John learned to love the Jersey Shore in Cape May where the family summered. According to John, the world went from black and white to technicolor during those summer months. During his summers in Cape May John served as a lifeguard on the Queen Street Beach where he met and later married Florence Branin; raised a family and began his long career in journalism. John attended Ohio State University’s School of Journalism and after graduation began writing for the Atlantic City Press, Cape May Bureau. John also wrote for the Wildwood Leader and became editor of the Cape May Star and Wave, and later for the Cape May Herald. He served as editor for the Ocean City Sentinel Ledger and The Reminder Newspaper in Millville. As a writer and editor John kept abreast of the pulse of the Jersey Shore’s regional political, environmental, and social issues.
John was a founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts. He served in the New Jersey National Guard 253rd company (Honest John) out of Cape May Court House. John was a generous man with a deep intellectual curiosity who saw the good in others. He was known for his quick wit and charm, perpetually ready with a quip. He had a love of gardening and cooking. He will be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues, and especially missed by his loving family: his children, Kristine Gentilini (Paul), John H. Andrus III (Rachel); grandchildren, Reef and Skylar Gentilini; his companion of 30 years, Natalie Reed; his brothers, David L. Jr. (Edna), Bruce (Dawn), and Paul Andrus. There will be a memorial service at 11am on Friday, May 31st at Cape May Presbyterian Church, 500 Hughes St., Cape May, NJ where family and friends will be received from 10am to 11am. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial donations to CU Maurice River, www.cumauriceriver.org or NJ Audubon, CMBO, Cape May Point, www.njaudubon.org
