Andrew Christian Twaddle, 82, died of complications from the COVID-19 virus on Dec. 2, 2020, at the University of Missouri Hospital in Columbia, Missouri.

He was born in Hartford, Connecticut on April 21, 1938, the son of Ruth (Bridenbaugh) Christian and Paul Holmes Twaddle.  He was a longtime resident of Columbia, Missouri and East Boothbay, Maine.

He spent his early childhood years in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, Newport, Rhode Island, West Hartford, Connecticut, and Oceanside, New York before the family settled in Wethersfield, Connecticut at the end of World War II.

Andrew attended public schools in Wethersfield, Connecticut and graduated from Kingswood School in West Hartford, Connecticut. He received his BA from Bucknell University in 1961, his MA from the University of Connecticut in 1963, and his Ph.D from Brown University in 1968.

Surviving are his wife of 57 years, Sarah Anne Wolcott-Twaddle; daughters, Lisa Ruth Wolcott (Domenic Durante) of Gainesville, Florida and Kristin Mara Wolcott Farese (James Farese) of Kentfield, California; grandchildren, Isabelle Gloria Wolcott-Durante and Miles Baker Wolcott-Durante of Gainesville, Florida; Liam Robert Wolcott Farese, Mara Lane Wolcott Farese, and Sarah Jane Wolcott Farese of Kentfield, California; a sister, Sara Elizabeth Baird of Brevard, North Carolina; nephews, Kyle Douglas Baird and Thomas Kennedy Baird of Phoenix, Arizona and a niece, Kendra Elizabeth Baird of Las Vegas, Nevada; sisters-in-law, Constance Wolcott Mason of Farmington, Connecticut, and Dorothy (Deedee) Wolcott Stockman (Allan Stockman) of Marana, Arizona; and nephews, Nathan Wolcott Stockman and Adam Robbins Stockman, of Portland, Oregon.

He was pre-deceased by his parents, Paul and Ruth Twaddle, and his brothers-in-law, George H. Mason and Peter D. Baird.

Andrew came to the University of Missouri in 1971 with a joint appointment in the Department of Sociology and the Section of Behavioral Science in the Department of Community Health and Medical Practice in the Medical School. He previously served on the faculties of College of the Holy Cross (Sociology), Harvard Medical School (Preventive Medicine), the Massachusetts General Hospital (Medicine), and the University of Pennsylvania (Sociology and Community Medicine).  During his career, he also held visiting faculty appointments at Northeastern University (Sociology), University of Western Ontario (Sociology), and later at Göteborgs Universitet, (Sociologiska Institutet, Linköpings Universitet (Health and Society), and Uppsalas Universitet (Social Medicine), in Sweden and at Colby College in Maine.

As an academic, Andrew’s early research focused on Sickness Behavior and the Sick Role. During 1978-79 while in Sweden he conducted a study of the primary medical care system in the city of Göteborg, Sweden, documenting the structural and practice differences among the public and private sectors. Returning to Sweden in 1993, on a Fulbright Scholarship, he worked with a group of philosophers who were interested in a set of distinctions among disease, illness, and sickness—concepts that were fundamental to his research. In addition, he also interviewed key political figures in both the public (government) and private sectors to understand why a major shift in the political discussion of the Swedish medical care system had occurred.  

Andrew was an avid sailor, and enjoyed sailing the waters of Maine’s Midcoast during the summertime. He was a dedicated amateur photographer, and enjoyed researching ancestry. Since retirement in 2001, he developed additional interests including meditation, poetry and birding. A lifetime supporter of the arts, he sang for decades in University of Missouri’s choral union, and enjoyed attending as many concerts, recitals, and opera performances as he could. Andrew felt fortunate to live in both the Boothbay, Maine and Columbia, Missouri communities where he was deeply involved in many organizations promoting social, environmental and economic justice. 

A memorial service to celebrate the life of Andrew will be held at a later date. Memorial contributions may be sent to RMF Community Bail Fund P.O. Box 7972, Columbia, MO 65205, Room At the Inn http://www.roomattheinncomo.org/, Boothbay Region Land Trust, 60 Samoset Road, P.O. Box 183, Boothbay Harbor, ME 04538 https://bbrlt.org