Andrew Joseph Roy:  August 22, 1989 March 5, 2018

Passed away unexpectedly on Monday, March 5, 2018 at the 28. Loving son of Karen Roy (Dave Thomson) and Larry Roy. Loving brother to Tyler Roy (Stephanie ) and cherished uncle of Henry. Andrew’s cheerful and easy going nature will be sadly missed by all, including his grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins and his Social Club friends. Andrew will always be remembered as a lovable and gentle giant. Friends may call at ADAMS FUNERAL HOME(445 St. Vincent Street, Barrie) on Friday March 9, 2018 from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. A Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, March 10, 2018 at 11 o’clock a.m. with visitation one hour prior. Memorial Donations to Autism Ontario would be appreciated by the family. Messages of condolence may be forwarded through adamsfuneralhome.ca

My name is Pat O’Connor and I am the owner and director of Integrated Autism Consulting, which is primarily a Centre for young adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders transitioning to adulthood. In the fall of 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting Andrew and Karen and that was the beginning of our time together. Andrew began individual coaching with me, he took our course called Transition to Life-  which was a very successful experience for him- and has been involved with our Thursday night Social Club, since that time.

When we got the news of Andrew’s death, we were devastated! This past Thursday Andrew’s Social Club came together to remember Andrew and initially there were tears but soon after came smiles and many stories of his wonderful personality and his many interests.

Andrew was a lover of Anime, Dungeon World, Harry Potter Fan Fiction and Marvel Comics. (If you are unsure as to what some of these topics involve, please ask a member of the Social Group since they would be much better at explaining it than I would be.) The group agreed that he was very similar to character in one of the comics called Rhineheart… who was a giant with a heart of gold.

He cared deeply about everyone in our group and always shared positive comments about them and accepted people for who they are.  He disliked conflict and became the resident mediator, intervening to smooth over disagreements. 

I always knew that he was fond of me since he would often tower over me pat my head like a puppy dog and say: “Let’s pat Pat! – with a huge smile of his face!

Everyone agreed that he was hilarious and that he set out to make people laugh.  He would enter the Centre every Thursday night with his bag of subs and the hugest smile on his face and start talking and he always left a smile on everyone’s face!  The group described him as “Lighting up the room!”

In February, when the group was deciding what to do for there winter outings, the topic of snow tubing came up.  Since Andrew wasn’t signing up, I was trying to encourage him to go and his response was something like…

“Pat —Look at this physique! Just imagine me plummeting down the hill at top speed in a tube! Do you think there is any chance I will stop at the bottom, like everyone else… Yah – that would be a pass for me!”

He loved to talk and always had an opinion! He was a very bright man! He could talk history, politics, religion or world affairs like a college professor since one of his special interests were reading the newsfeeds continually!

He was always looking for a good debating partner but with the combination of his knowledge and quick wit, you really didn’t have a chance!

Last summer when he attended one of the many parties/gatherings that the Social Club had  – outside the Centre-  he said to the host  –This is the best party I have ever been to!  Not only was he appreciative but he knew he was with his people!  

Can the members of the Social Club please stand up? We have discussed many ways to celebrate Andrew but one idea it to attend, as a group, Anime North, a convention in Toronto in May. This is something that Andrew really wanted to do since he was introduced to Comicon last fall. He was so excited about attending and getting pictures taken, the group was continually searching for him. They remarked that it was a good thing he is so tall!

 The group also suggested making a banner for the Centre showing the many faces of Andrew’s vivid imagination – from playing Dragon World to his Halloween costume when he was dressed like a women as the Plaque Doctor!

I wanted to share a comment from Andrew’s mom Karen:

“I cannot tell you how instrumental you have been in Andrew\s life.  You were the turning point from his ‘just existing’ to him enjoying life.  I can never thank you enough.” 

We were his people and how lucky were we to know this wonderful man! He brought out the best in all of us and he will be sorely missed  but always remembered! Thank you Karen for bringing Andrew into our world and we are so deeply sorry for your loss!