Andrew William Manias
1994-2020
Andrew William Manias, cherished son and loving brother, passed away the morning of Sunday, the 9th of February 2020, in Houston. He was 25 years of age.
Andrew was born in Denver, Colorado on the 4th of July 1994. Anxious to join our family, Andrew was transported by life flight on July 3rd (10 ½ weeks prior to his due date) from Casper, Wyoming to Denver Presbyterian St. Luke's Hospital. Under the compassionate and skilled expertise of his NICU doctors and nurses, Andrew defied the odds, surpassed all expectations, and was released far ahead of schedule.
Andrew continued to overcome expected limitations throughout his life, after he was diagnosed at age four with Asperger's Syndrome. Though throughout his childhood his family was advised that there was a litany of skills Andrew would never accomplish, including attending a competitive high school or playing a team sport, he addressed every challenge without question and with 100% dedication and effort. Andrew joined his first youth football team as a 2nd grader as a member of the West University Shamrocks. For the next six seasons, Andrew competed with his brother, Hayden, friends and teammates in the Southwest Football League ("SFL").
Andrew continued to play football through his sophomore year at the Kinkaid School, where he attended high school. Andrew graduated from Kinkaid in 2013 as a member of the Cum Laude Society. He began attending Rice University in 2013 and was in the process of finishing his final semester with a History degree in May 2020.
Andrew was an "old soul" who admitted he was born in the wrong time in history. Andrew was insatiably curious and, whenever the opportunity arose, Andrew would seize the chance to engage in enthusiastic conversation with his elders, intent on learning as much as possible from what he perceived to be their invaluable experience. He was particularly drawn to the study of the WWII era. One of his favorite experiences was a trip to visit with the veterans who volunteered at the WWII museum in Huntsville, Texas. Andrew was a beautiful writer and had dreams of traveling the world to meet people of all backgrounds in order to study their cultures and histories and, ultimately, to chronicle his experiences and knowledge gained in his own novels.
In his free time, Andrew loved to summer at his grandparents' ranch in Wyoming. He enjoyed hiking and always challenged himself and his fellow hikers to persevere beyond the original goal set that day to reach the next peak in sight and then the next peak and on and on until he finally wore everyone else out. He also had a passion for astronomy and loved to study the myriad of stars in the clear mountain sky. He dreamed of traveling to Mars and spent countless hours during his youth visiting Johnson Space Center, which he referred to as "Space Camp."
Andrew was a kind, innocent, gentle, caring individual. He was extremely intelligent and curious and had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. He loved to travel and when he finally visited Italy for the first time he wowed our tour guides with the depth of his knowledge and even corrected them on occasion. Perhaps, his one fault was that he was so honest that it could ruffle some feathers. Andrew loved his visits to New England to visit with his extended Greek family and relished their childhood stories. He loved his grandparents and wrote a particularly funny, yet accurate, short story about his Grandma called, "Driving Miss Crazy," which highlighted his incredibly dry sense of humor combined with his overwhelming love and respect for family.
Andrew was preceded in death by his maternal grandparents, Randall Meyer and Barbara Swetman Meyer and by his paternal grandmother, Diane Haeussler Manias. He is survived by his parents, Bill and Gretchen Manias; and his brother, Hayden Manias, of Houston. He is also survived by his grandfather, George Manias of Concord, New Hampshire; his uncle, Warren Meyer and his wife Kate, of Phoenix, Arizona; his aunt, Kirsten Meyer Wrinkle and her husband Geoff of Charlotte, North Carolina, Xanthi Manias Gray and her husband Dan of Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and his cousins, Nicholas and Amelia Meyer of Phoenix, Alex Wrinkle of Charlotte, and Lannon, Kealey and Ainsley Gray of Portsmouth.
Andrew's family wishes to acknowledge and express their sincere gratitude for the love and friendship extended to Andrew by his lifelong friend, Brandon Karnoski and his dear, loving godmother, Meg.
A memorial service is to be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Saturday, the 15th of February, in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis and Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, where Rev. Steve Wells, Pastor of South Main Baptist Church, will officiate.
Immediately following, all are invited to greet the family during a reception in the adjacent grand foyer.
In lieu of customary remembrances, and for those desiring, memorial contributions in Memory of Andrew Manias may be directed to Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Attn: NICU Social Workers, 2001 High St., Denver, CO., 80218.
"The world has lost a truly unique young man who defied the odds to surpass all expectations. He will be dearly missed by family and friends. Our angel on Earth is now our angel in Heaven."
Please visit Andrew's online memorial tribute at GeoHLewis.com where memories and words of comfort and condolences may be shared electronically with his family.