In Memory of Andrew Pratt
Obituary originally published in Idaho Mountain Express Newspaper
We are heartbroken to announce the death of Andrew (Andy) F. Pratt, 55, of Hailey, on April 30. Andrew died peacefully, surrounded by his family, after a courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Andrew was born on March 22, 1970, in Los Angeles, California, to Robert and Åshild Pratt, joining his older sister, Leslie. The family soon moved northward, settling in Issaquah, Washington, where Andrew spent his childhood playing soccer, riding bikes and being a class clown. While American by birth, Andrew grew up equally Norwegian in a household immersed in his mother’s culture. Summers spent with family in Norway were among Andrew’s happiest memories.
Andrew was an ardent believer in hope and optimism for wayward teens, precisely because that was his own story. After teenage malarkey led him to drop out of school, he had an epiphany that he had to do better. He returned to high school, then went on to graduate from the University of Washington in 1993 with a degree in microbiology.
After graduation, Andrew moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where he worked as a phlebotomist. Over a long, dark winter there, he applied to law school, and then enrolled at Temple University in Philadelphia.
Andrew’s years at Temple formed one of the most important epochs in his life. Not only did he stretch his brilliant mind over three academically grueling years, he also made lifelong best friends. And he met the love of his life, Jody.
Andrew Pratt
1970 – 2025
Andrew met Jody in a venerable dive bar in Philly named Dirty Frank’s. Andrew was there with his classmates, one of whom had just convinced Jody to move to Philadelphia on a lark. Jody remembers being wowed by his sparkling blue eyes and utterly charmed by his impish intelligence. The two became an instant item, inseparable from the start. Jody decided to stay in Philadelphia to wait for Andrew, and when he graduated from law school in 1998, they moved to Seattle, where Andrew began his career as an intellectual property attorney.
Andrew had a knack for litigation. His ability to absorb complex information, combine it with legal knowledge and synthesize it into a clear argument was admired by his colleagues and led to a successful career where he rarely lost a case.
Andrew was also a great lawyer for the same reason that he was a great person: He had impeccable integrity, an inquisitive nature and a comic wit that put everyone at ease. Whether he was deposing someone or just meeting them at a party, they were subject to a flurry of questions. Jody often teased him, calling him Barbara Walters for his ability to win people over and find out everything about them. He always responded, “I’m just truly curious about people!”
Andrew and Jody were married in Seattle on Oct. 13, 2001. In 2003, they relocated to Chicago, where Andrew had been offered a job and it rained less. Three years later, they welcomed their first child, Anja. Andrew’s entire world changed. Andrew was enchanted with fatherhood. His love and devotion as a dad knew no bounds. Two years later—and after a move to Washington, D.C.—Andrew was blessed with another daughter, Ingrid. Three years after that, his happy family was complete with the birth of his son, Stigur.
Andrew and his family lived on Capitol Hill for 14 years. These years were full of love, laughter and world travel with Jody and the kids, professional success and a rich fabric of friends and community. His D.C. life lacked only one thing: skiing.
Having grown up in the mountains with a Scandinavian mother, Andrew could ski as soon as he could walk. He often mused that the mountains were calling him west. So when his job went remote over COVID, he and Jody decided to leap into another adventure and the family moved to Sun Valley.
The years in Sun Valley began as some of the happiest of his life. He and Jody and the kids spent winters skiing and summers hiking and mountain biking. As they reflected on their beautiful family and incredible surroundings, they truly felt that they had reached peak human happiness.
When cancer shattered their world in 2023, Andrew rose to the fight, enduring brutal rounds of chemotherapy and extensive surgeries with grit, hope and his trademark sense of humor. During a period of remission, he was determined to give back to his community, so he trained to be an EMT, on a path to becoming a volunteer firefighter. Recurrence dashed his plans of becoming a firefighter, but he refused to give up on being an EMT. Studying sometimes with a chemo drip in his vein and coming to class when most people would have stayed in bed, Andrew soared through the course with his usual brilliance.
Being both smart and personable, Andrew was a natural with patients, always eager to hear their life stories and making them laugh while compassionately caring for them. One of the last things Andrew was able to accomplish in this world was successfully completing his course, becoming a licensed EMT and a volunteer for the Ketchum Fire Department.
Andrew is survived by his adored and adoring wife, Jody; daughters, Anja and Ingrid; son, Stig; aunts, Anne Stiff and Marit (Harald) Myhra; father- and mother-in-law Benjamin and Robin Ravida; sisters-in-law Heidi Ravida and her children, Kyle and Shannon, and Laura McLendon and her sons, Jack and Ben; brother-in-law Joseph (Amanda) Ravida and their son, Robinson; as well as beloved extended family in Norway and friends all over the world.
He was preceded in death by his sister, Leslie Anne Howley; mother, Åshild Pratt; and father, Robert Pratt.
Please consider remembering Andrew with a donation to his favorite charity, the Carter Center.