Obituaries
Nancy Virginia Andrews Mitchell
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VICKSBURG, Miss. (VDN) — Nancy Virginia Andrews Mitchell died peacefully in her Oxford home on May 20, 2026, following outpatient surgery earlier in the day. She was 71.
Mrs. Mitchell, a native of Vicksburg, was the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. H. Dean Andrews Sr. She graduated from South Vicksburg High School and Mississippi State University and taught art in the Vicksburg public schools for 30 years, retiring in 2011 from Warren Central High School. In education, she was a National Board Certified Master Teacher, STAR teacher and Mississippi Secondary Art Educator of the Year. She enjoyed keeping up with students as they enjoyed successful careers.
After retiring and moving to Oxford, she worked to develop her own skills, receiving many gallery prizes, commissions and recognitions. She enjoyed experimenting with colors, textures and techniques in many mediums, including pen and ink, watercolor, silk fusion, ceramics, acrylic, oil and needlework. Her typical subjects were animals and flowers because she said, she wanted to capture and share the joy she saw.
Mrs. Mitchell was a member of the Oxford Art Guild and the Mississippi Art Colony and a lifelong member of the Vicksburg Art Association. She also enjoyed traveling, especially to Italy and other places in Europe, to study and appreciate the genius of the masters.
She is survived by her spouse of 52 years, Charles D. Mitchell of Oxford; two daughters, Virginia Ann Hisey of Ocala, Fla., and Bess Andrews Averett (Jeff) of Vicksburg; two grandsons, Mitchell Alexander Campbell of Ocala and John Walker Campbell of the United States Air Force; three granddaughters, Addison Evelyn, Annslee Virginia and Emily Harper Averett, all of Vicksburg; one sister, Patsy Andrews Martin of Arlington, Texas; and two brothers, H. Dean Andrews Jr. (Kelly) and Ronald Lee Andrews (Sharon), both of Vicksburg.
A service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 30, at First Presbyterian Church, where she and Mr. Mitchell were married in 1974, 1501 Cherry St. in Vicksburg. Visitation will be at 9:30 a.m. in the church’s Ward Hall until the hour of the service.
Memorials may be made to the Mississippi Art Colony Scholarship Fund, 400 South 34th Ave., Hattiesburg, MS 39402, or by performing, as she often did, a random act of kindness.
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