Andi Eakins

BENTONVILLE- Andrea “Andi” Lynn Eakins, 54, of Bentonville, Indiana, passed away on Monday April 8, 2024. Andi

was born January 3, 1970, in Kokomo, Indiana, to Larry and Becky Gray. She grew up

in Denver, Indiana and was a graduate of North Miami High School with the class of 1988. She met

Dennis Eakins of the US Air Force while he was stationed at Grissom AFB in Bunker

Hill, Indiana. They were married at the Salem Christian Church on July 21, 1990 in

Peru, Indiana. Andi was a member of the Center Christian Church in Mays,

where she worshipped and praised her God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Never wanting to be seen out front, Andi can best be described as a volunteer who worked

quietly behind the scenes. Two weeks before the birth of their first child, Andi quit work

to assume her greatest role as a full-time stay at home mom. She attended and helped

organize countless classroom parties and field trips in the early years, and assisted with

numerous 4-H projects, band and gymnastics practices and competitions in the later

years as her children grew older.  After her children were grown, Andi pursued her belief in the God given sanctity of life

by volunteering at the Hope Pregnancy Center in Connersville. After volunteering for nine years, working in the client boutique and reception desk, a year ago Andi was honored to have been asked to join the staff as the Office/Boutique Manager

where she assisted clients in finding a support team in their time of need.

Just like her small hometown of Denver, Andi was proud of her adopted community of Bentonville. She baked hundreds of pies and salads for the fire department fish frys, and served as the secretary/treasurer of Bentonville Cemetery Association for

over 16 years.

In recent years, Andi and Dennis enjoyed weekend getaways, often hiking in State

parks, and enjoying the company of complete strangers over breakfast at many bed and

breakfast inns across the Midwest. As an avid collector of antique Fiesta and Homer

Laughlin dinnerware, one of her favorite excursions was a surprise trip and tour of the

Homer Laughlin factory in Newell, WV.

Andi will be missed by her parents, Larry and Becky Gray of Denver, IN; her husband of

33 years, Dennis of Bentonville; son, Jay Eakins of Connersville; daughters,

Marissa (Curtis) Poe of Glenwood, IA, and Rachelle (Brody Hamilton) Eakins of

Connersville; She was “GiGi” to her four precious granddaughters who were the

absolute world to her, Zoë Lynn Poe, Amara Rose Hamilton, Eloise Murphy Poe, and

McKinzie Grace Eakins; her brother, Kent (Buffy) Gray of Denver, Colorado also

survives.

Andi’s family wishes that Memorial Contributions be made to The Hope Pregnancy Center, 2004 Indiana

Avenue, Connersville, IN 47331. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.

Visitation will be on Monday April 15, 2024 from 4-7 p.m. and 1 hour prior to the services on Tuesday April 16th which are at 11 a.m. at Marshall & Erlewein Funeral Home, Dublin. Pastor Darryl Denney will officiate. Burial will follow at the Bentonville Cemetery.

Condolences can be made anytime at www.marshallanderleweinfuneralhome.com

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