Andrew Leslie Gee

This is Andrew giving some of our kids (and his own) a tour around the farm: Charlie is in the yellow coat, Andrew Thomas is in the blue coat, our son Matt is on Andrew's lap in the tractor, and Alyssabeth is in her ladybug raincoat on the side of him. When Alyssabeth was being homeschooled in preschool, we had a unit on apples and bearing fruit, and the Gee Orchards were the best place for us to go for a personal tour! And speaking of "bearing fruit", my husband Aaron and I love seeing how each of the Gee children bears the imprint of Andrew's nature and nurture - Danica's thoughtfulness, Lillian's determination, Charlie's tender heart, and Andrew's quiet and kind nature. We are thankful to know that Andrew will live on through them and what he gave them genetically as well as what he modeled for them in the way that he lived his life.

It's difficult to pick just one memory of Andrew as I knew him for over 30 years. He began dating my best friend when the three of us were young teenagers, and I watched him play basketball, and I was the maid of honor at his wedding to Lisa in 2000. Our families have grown up together as their oldest daughter was born 6 weeks after our oldest son, and their youngest son was born 11 months before our youngest son was born. We went to the hospital to welcome each of their precious children into the world. Each November, we would cut down our Christmas trees together at Church's and then go to Andrew and Lisa's house to enjoy pizza from Andrea's. In October each year, we come up to pick apples and then take them home to make and can dozens of quarts of delicious applesauce to enjoy throughout the rest of the year. Andrew would never accept any payment, and when we got him a Cabela's gift card, he made it abundantly clear that the apples we took home with us were his gift to us each fall. We watched him participate in the triathlon in Grand Haven. We went for rides in their boat, and we have even been for a ride in one of the semis. I wrote to him to encourage him and stay in touch when he was in basic training for the Marines (he even wrote back once and sent a picture of him in his uniform!) We watched him carry the flag dressed in his crisp Marine uniform during the G.R. Memorial Day parade.

Out of all the many memories (only a few listed here), I think my favorite memory was when I rode home with Andrew from a road trip in high school or college. When he dropped me off at my parents' house upon returning, he got out, grabbed my duffel bag out of the back of the vehicle, and he carried it up to the house for me. I was touched by his thoughtfulness. Andrew liked to tease and could be a bit gruff at times, and I wasn't always quite sure how to take him at first, but in that moment, I could see through his quiet nature and teasing demeanor and see what a genuinely nice person he was. In fact, I was so impressed by him and the love that he had for Lisa that when they took a break from having a romantic relationship during Lisa's freshman year in college, I wrote him a letter encouraging him to keep pursuing Lisa and not to give up on her. He was the type of person I wanted my best friend to marry and start a family with someday.

I ache with all of you in this deep and incredible loss and will dearly miss Andrew and what he brought to this world to make it a more generous place.