It is with regret that we announce that Andreas Baur was killed in his car by a deer on the drive home on December 1, 2008 at the age of 25. Andreas was born in Quesnel on January 21st 1983, and raised on his family farm. He attended St. Ann’s, Maple Drive Junior High, and Correlieu schools. He went on to study science and pharmacy at the University of British Columbia. After completing his Pharmacy degree in May 2008, Andreas became the associate - owner of the Shoppers Drug Mart in Quesnel; a huge challenge for him, which he was learning to master with astonishing speed. Andreas will be remembered as a caring, humorous, well-grounded young man willing to do his share in making the world a better place. He is survived by his parents Annemarie and Josef, by his siblings Martin (Gillian), Sonja (Geoff), Nicole and his special friend Jag.
A funeral service was held at St. Ann’s church in Quesnel on Saturday December 6th. The family wants to thank everyone involved for their participation. Andreas’ friends will hold a memorial for him, combined with a fund-raiser for OrphanAid Africa in Vancouver, on Sunday December 14th at 5pm at Darby’s Pub.
“You can shed tears that he is gone,
or you can smile because he has lived.
You can close your eyes and pray that he’ll come back,
or you can open your eyes and see all he’s left.
Your heart can be empty because you can’t see him,
or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday,
or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him only that he is gone,
or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind,
be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what he’d want:
smile, open your eyes, love and go on”
Author: David Harkins
Andreas was volunteering for the last three summers in Africa and it was a life-changing experience for him. It gave him a new sense of self, purpose, and a new understanding of human emotion:
“I remember standing in the back of the pick-up truck in Ghana. The wind and cool night blinded all my senses to a blur of lights and howl of air into my ears. I stood up from the comfort of hiding behind the relative shelter of the cab, wanting to put myself directly in front of the oncoming rush of air. I did this because I wanted to force myself into a genuine emotion: I wanted to cry. This is what I thought I should feel during that time, instead of the evenness my emotion had become; an unwanted partner to myself”.
For those who wish to contribute to Andreas’ passion, a donation may be made to Orphanaid Africa where money is being collected for the orphanage where he worked (www.oafrica.org, OrphanAid Africa, 268 Bush Street, #3100, San Francisco, CA 94104). Please be sure to mark that the donation is made in memory of Andreas Baur. For more information or to express your condolences, please see “In Memory of Andreas Baur…we will miss you” on Facebook.