Ludmila “Mila” Andre, a retired 40-year veteran of the Daily News whose own roots in war-torn Europe were as compelling as the stories she would tell during 40 years as a writer, editor and columnist at the Daily News, has died. She was 83.
Andre died on May 6 of complications from a recent stroke. She was just four days short of her 84th birthday.
News staffers called her the den mother of the newsroom. Former co-workers shared social media posts of a caring, yet commanding newsroom leader who made her presence felt when the industry was still an old boy’s network.
News alum Clem Richardson described her on Facebook as “a great, funny lady who didn’t mind letting her temper show when needed.”
“She was a delight, and a straight-talking one,” former News staffer Linda Yglesias posted. “I am one of a gazillion Newsers who loved dropping by her desk.
Former co-workers said Andre was as old school as it gets. Edward Glazarev, former print production head, said Andre was kind and generous to young journalists and loved to share stories with them.
“My favorite memory is her telling me how she asked the nurses in the maternity ward to get her a cigarette and a drink after she gave birth,” Glazarev wrote. “She was one of a kind.”
Andre also regaled co-workers with stories of her tumultuous childhood during treacherous times in Europe. The accounts of her family’s journey to the U.S. were filled with adventurous train rides, unlikely survivals and endless faith.
Andre and her family departed on a train from Kyiv, through Western Ukraine, Poland, Austria and Hungary to Germany in May 1943 as World War II was raging throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.
Seven years passed before she reached New York in 1950 at the age of 10.
Relatives said she worked hard from an early age, sacrificing a formal education to help put her two sisters through school.
She developed a vast knowledge of books and art, always reading and growing. She was fluent in English, Russian and German.
Her Daily News articles included museum reviews and travel columns along with her work as a copy editor.
She is survived by her sister, a son and a host of nieces and nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren.
A funeral service will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Chapel of Novo Diveevo Russian Orthodox Church in Nanuet, Rockland County.
