In a lifetime filled with as much warmth and laughter as ours, it’s hard to distill it all into a few words. But if Andrew taught me anything, it’s that the essence of life can often be found in the simplest of moments.
Hello everyone, I’m David Johnson, Andrew’s partner, and I’m here to share a little of the light Andrew brought into our lives. His legacy isn’t just in the grand designs he left behind, but in the small sketches of life we created together.
Andrew had this uncanny ability to turn the mundane into the magical. I remember once, we were painting the living room, and somehow, I ended up with more paint on me than the walls. Andrew just laughed, his eyes twinkling behind those signature round glasses, and said, “David, you’re not just my partner, you’re my living art.” That was Andrew—always seeing the world not for what it was, but for what it could become.
He was a man who lived his life like he designed his buildings: with intention, with care, and always with an eye for sustainability. He’d say, “If our love was a building, it would run on renewable energy because it’s self-sustaining and evergreen.” And he was right. Our love was just like one of his eco-friendly roofs, covered in the greenery of shared jokes, mutual respect, and endless support.
Andrew’s creativity wasn’t confined to his work. Oh no, it spilled into every aspect of our lives. On our cross-country road trip, he insisted on sketching every national park we visited. Those sketches weren’t just of landscapes; they were filled with the odd squirrel or two that photobombed our picnics, or the tent that we could never quite seem to pitch right.
To his family, Andrew was both a pillar and a playful spirit. He could be found teaching his niece and nephew the fine art of making the perfect pancake—after all, as he put it, “It’s all in the architecture of the batter.”
To all of you who have come to share in our remembrance today, I extend the deepest gratitude from the bottom of my heart. Andrew would have been moved to see so many familiar faces, and probably would have made a quip about how it was “just like a well-attended gallery opening, only with fewer critiques and more tears.”
In the tapestry of life, Andrew was the thread that held us together, and though that thread may have come to an end, the weave holds strong. We are all a part of his fabric, each of us a color, a texture, a pattern that he cherished.
Let’s carry on Andrew’s legacy by finding beauty in the everyday, by nurturing our planet, and by loving each other with the same ferocity and tenderness that he showed to all of us.
Thank you, Andrew, for the laughter, the lessons, and the love. Your blueprint for life was one-of-a-kind, and we are all the better for having been a part of it. Here’s to you, my love, the man who could always find the right angle in both life and design.