Fernando Andre Chirino

1972 - 2007

Fernando Andre Chirino passed away suddenly in Bakersfield on September 21, 2007. Andre was born in New Orleans, LA, a beautiful boy who we all adored. He spent his childhood in Lagos, Nigeria and New Orleans before moving to Bakersfield where he attended Stine Elementary and Actis Schools. In 1982 he moved with his family to Madrid, Spain, attended the American School of Madrid where he learned to speak Spanish fluently enough to navigate the taxi drivers around Madrid. Andre loved to play baseball. He went to Brussels in 1984 to participate in the European Little League elimination for the Williamsport Little League World Series. At 10 years old (before the personal computers were even popular) Andre got what would gradually become his life: a Commodore computer. At 13 years old his "handle" was "The Bishop" and Andre was one of the very first who ran a BBS board and was hooked up to a modem before the World Wide Web. He was light years ahead of his time. Andre attended Bakersfield High and the American School in La Paz, Bolivia and his last two years of high school at Southwestern Academy in San Marino, California, where he graduated in 1991. Andre studied computer science at Bakersfield College and University of New Orleans. He was known by everyone as a computer wiz who would beta-test for Microsoft and post any information on the internet for free.  His specialty was problem solving concerning everything and anything about computers. He worked off and on throughout his adulthood, almost entirely in the computer business. Andre spent the better part of the past year in La Piarre, France with his sister Gina and her family to analyze the prospects of developing a computer business there. Andre is survived by his parents, Fernando and Frances Chirino; grandmother, Christina Goya of Honolulu; sisters, Leilani Chirino of Los Angeles and Gina (Luke) Fitzgibbon of La Piarre, France; nieces and nephew, Elise, Gregory and Emma Fitzgibbon; aunts, Doris Rozkiewicz of Honolulu and Patricia Chirino of Coral Gables, FL; cousins, Carlos Archilla and Marie- Angie Marques of Puerto Rico and Nanilei Rozkiewicz of Honolulu. Andre is preceded in death by his grandparents,  Dr. Fernando and Sophia Chirino and Chester Goya. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a donation to a charity of your choice, to Mercy Southwest Hospital in Bakersfield or to St. Philip the Apostle Church. A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Philip the Apostle Church 7100 Stockdale Hwy. Bakersfield, CA 93309 on September 28, 2007 at 9:30am, with a reception immediately following. Fernando Andre Chirino Aug. 10, 1972 - Sept. 21, 2007 Greenlawn Mortuary