Andrew "Drew" Garcia

Andrew “Drew” Garrett Garcia, 39, March 31, 1984 – October 9, 2023 With great sadness, we announce the passing of Andrew “Drew” Garrett Garcia on October 9, 2023. He was the beloved son of Antonio M. and Patricia Ann Garcia, brother of Lauren Carissa-Garcia (Devon) Glass, uncle of Owen Rapaport Glass and Kara Zozula Glass, and friend to many. Andrew, or “Drew” as most of his friends and co-workers knew him, was a kind and generous man, patient and intelligent, and will be truly missed. He was born at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Pontiac on March 31, 1984 and grew up in Sterling Heights. As a young child, we found out he had a knack for computer games at the Sterling Heights Public Library. One of his favorite games consisted of a maze that had to be navigated in order to find the correct way to connect the electrical circuits. His aptitude for technology led to his future career as a network engineering specialist. In 1991, Andrew joined Cub Scout Pack 347 at Jefferson Elementary School in Sterling Heights and continued to rise through the ranks in Boy Scout Troop 1954 at St. Martin de Porres Church in Warren, through his middle and high school years. He achieved the pinnacle of scouting at his Eagle Court of Honor on June 3, 2001. Andrew was trustworthy, friendly, loyal, cheerful, kind, courteous, helpful, and thrifty, which are values included in the Boy Scout Law. He diligently followed a key premise in the Boy Scout Oath: To help other people at all times. His integrity and caring was recognized when he received the Optimist Club of Warren Youth Appreciation Award in middle school. Andrew split his high school days between Sterling Heights High School and the Macomb Mathematics Science & Technology Center (MMSTC). He loved his classes and classmates at MMSTC. Andrew became a member of FIRST Robotics. Team 818, known as the Steel Armadillos, was a joint venture between Warren Consolidated Schools and the General Motors Tech Center. Each season, Andrew and his team participated in building a new robot. Their completed robot competed against other teams’ robots in various competitions throughout the country. In 2001, the team was awarded the FIRST National Rookie of the Year Award at the National Competition in Orlando, Florida for their first season. Starting in 5th grade, and through high school, Andrew played alto and baritone saxophone in band. He was a member of the Sterling Heights High School Marching Band and enjoyed participating in the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade his sophomore year with his sister, Lauren. Andrew was also a member of the National Honor Society in high school and he carried out his service projects with the same ease and graciousness that he always displayed throughout his life. He graduated, with honors, from Sterling Heights High School and the Macomb Mathematics Science & Technology Center in June of 2002. Andrew’s associate degrees from Macomb Community College in General Studies and Associate of Applied Science, Information Technology-Network Specialist and Cisco Network Professional prepared him well for his career as a Network Engineer for Beaumont Health. Andrew relied on his skills to build his own computers for himself, as well as for family and friends. He was always the person to call when having trouble with computers, phones or any other device. He was able to solve an assortment of technical issues. His computer knowledge led him to link up his newest main computer to three old repaired computers in order to create his own personal network in his apartment. The old computers were used as servers, programming tools, and backups. Andrew used his server to host friends from all over the country to socialize and play video and role playing games together. Andrew’s friend, Ben Reese, introduced him to martial arts. He enjoyed participating in karate at Floyd Soos Korean Karate with friends. Andrew was a bit of a “foodie.” He developed a real mastery of cooking and made many delicious dishes. Andrew was a skilled professional with the knowledge, precision, and creativity to fix and to solve problems that he encountered in his daily work schedule. He was an excellent communicator with work colleagues, hospital staff, and vendors. He had a gentle, polite, and patient demeanor that allowed him to bridge his technical skills in an understandable manner with everyone involved in order to solve problems, fix and update equipment, and tackle any other computer related situation that he faced. He had a calming effect of defusing situations when the technology was not working properly, with the usual outcome of solving and resolving problems in a speedy manner. He was able to get to the core of the technical issues with his methodical problem solving skills coupled with good listening skills. That was Andrew’s rare quality; he was extremely technically minded but had the people skills to relate to anyone on their own level of technical expertise. He worked mainly at the Corewell-Beaumont Dearborn Hospital but he also routinely worked at many ancillary sites under the umbrella of Corewell-Beaumont. Andrew loved his work as a Network Administrator on the Network Engineering Team at the Corewell Heath Dearborn Hospital. He spent twelve years as a highly regarded and respected member of the Corewell Health Digital Services family. Please bring your fondest memories of Andrew and join us for a gathering of family and friends at the Stanley Turowski Funeral Home, 22509 W. Warren, Dearborn Heights, MI. 48127, on Saturday, December 9, 2023 from 9:30 – 11:00 am, followed by a Memorial Service at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Corewell Health Foundation Dearborn online. (You can choose the Dearborn location and indicate the gift in memorial and include a special message).