Andrew Francis Zarowny

The dearest and most impacting words are always those that come from family, and so this comes with thoughts and remembrances from Andrew's brother, Michael as shared below:

Andrew attended Our Lady Queen of Heaven Grade School, St. Clement High School, as well as Wayne State University where he made many lifelong friends, some who lovingly cared for him in his final days.  For many years Andrew was a fixture at the Polish Century Club, a center of the neighborhood's community life, where Andrew's gregarious nature could flourish.  It was this easy going nature and love of conversation that eventually took Andrew to success in sales, first in telecommunications equipment, then recreational boats.  But the career that Andrew wished for from his earliest days was to be a writer and with the coming of the internet this dream was fulfilled when some his blogging was noticed by former "Washington Times" editor Robert Stacy McCain who hired Andrew as a columnist, then promoted him to Chief Political Editor for his webzine, "RightPundits."

Between publishing stories on-line, including a novel "When Autumn Leaves Fall,"  his television and book review blogs, and his opinion columns, Andrew had an active life in what he would call "the marketplace of ideas," with some pieces being seen by an audience of 100,000 and articles being re-tweeted by the likes of Karl Rove or mentioned on air by people such as Michael Savage or Glenn Beck.  To Andrew, the important thing wasn't so much the size of his audience as what ideas he was bringing to the marketplace.  Ever-contentious, ever-opinionated, Andrew had a fundamental core belief that, as he put it in the afterwards to his "When Autumn Leaves Fall,"…"Man is Good." Andrew's writings always emphasized the goodness of humanity, his belief in moral and scientific progress, the resilience of the Human Spirit, and his trust in the wisdom of common sense.  Again from the afterwards,  "my primary purpose was to demonstrate how creative and inventive people can adapt and overcome adversity."

T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") made a distinction between those who "dream at night," having fantasies they simply spin for their own amusement, and those who are "Dreamers of the Day," who have a vision of what the world could be, and should be, and work to make that vision a reality.  Andrew, in his writings, was a "Dreamer of the Day." Central to his belief in human potential and progress were the Apollo moon landings.  The moon landings fascinated Andrew.  He could locate each landing site with his telescope and give you the details of each mission.  Much of his science fiction writing was concerned with the moon landings and the exploration of space, and needless to say, his favorite movie was Stanley Kubrick's, "2001: A Space Odyssey."  For Andrew,the importance of the Apollo moon landings was not the adventure or winning the Space Race, but rather it was something philosophical, epistemological, and even moral.  Here was something concrete, something you could touch, which showed that his belief in human goodness and human potential were not mere words.

In December 2005, Andrew suffered an accident that nearly took his life.  The years since the accident were years of physical pain and many hardships, but they were also Andrew's most creative.  Here his own life became the concrete example of the resilience he would write about.  Andrew was able to recover and endure because he was both loving and drew love and friendship to himself.  As his health declined, Andrew grew ever more confident that he, and all of us, are in the hands of our Heavenly Father.  A friend noted that, like his favorite film director, Kubrick, Andrew was able to see the beauty of life even while being fully aware of the darkness.  Indeed, Andrew had fully absorbed and lived his life by one of the lessons of Kubrick, who said of his "2001: A Space Odyssey," "In vast darkness we must supply our own light."

And light he supplied, in abundance, to his beloved family and friends who meant the world to him. Andrew touched a multitude of hearts and souls in his journey this side of Heaven, may he now enjoy his rest on the other side. He will be missed immensely and loved dearly.

Andrew was the dearest brother of Steve (Susan) Zarowny, Paul Zarowny, Mary (Eric) Iverson, and Michael Zarowny. He was also the loving uncle of Sarah (Dr. Andrew) Forsyth, Karen (Joseph) LaVere, and great-uncle of Jacqueline, Joseph, Alistair, and Colette.

Andrew will lie in state on Thursday, July 23rd form 10:30 am until time of the Funeral Mass at 11:00 am at Our Lady Queen of Heaven Catholic Church, 8200 Rolyat Street, Detroit, MI 48234.

Memorial donations are welcomed to the Capuchin Ministries, 1820 Mt. Elliott Street, Detroit, MI 48207,...or to their website at www.cskdetroit.org 

Arrangements have been entrusted to the D.S. Temrowski & Sons Funeral Home in Warren, Michigan. 

Please share memories of Andrew at his guest book below.