Andrés Cao, 61, passed away at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia on September 20th, 2021. Born in Havana, Cuba, on May 4th, 1960, he immigrated to the US with his mother and siblings in December 1969. The family resettled in Orlando, Florida, where Andy spent his summers working at Disney World. There, he picked up his knack for performance, entertaining tourists while they waited in line for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

Andy earned both a Bachelor's in Computer Information Sciences and an MBA from the University of Florida. There, he met and married Mary DeLuca, and formed many lifelong friendships. His presence pulled everybody in and he was the epicenter of his friend group. A social chameleon, he made the most of his free time in Gainesville—from pick-up games at Hume Field to late pen and paper D&D nights. His favorite activity to fill an idle moment, including sitting in an arena waiting for a concert to start, was to play Oh Hell, Spades or Hearts. Anytime someone new joined the game, they were ordered to always pass Andy a low heart because he loved to shoot the moon.

Andy spent 4 decades working in data management, where he was much in demand. He worked for the University of Florida, Boeing (during which he was contracted to NASA), Porsche Cars of North America  and Triton Digital among others. Andy's proudest professional moment was as part of NASA's Space Coast program, where he implemented the novel network lab NASA used to test connectivity between their own network servers and clients' operating systems. He was working for Safe-Guard Products as a Senior Database Analyst when he passed away.

Andy was a unique soul with a heart of gold. He was always trying to change peoples lives for the better, whether mentoring younger IT talent, or finding people career paths. He was a self-proclaimed showman, albeit one who couldn't sing or dance. Gather a few kids together, and he'd organize a show for them to perform.

Andy always wanted a trip to look forward to. By far his favorite destinations were those where he could lace up his boots and hit the hiking trails. A hiking vacation with Andy meant traveling to the National Parks out West while staying on East Coast time so you could experience the wildlife before the tourists flocked to the park. When he finished one trip he would capture his favorite moments to share while planning his next adventure. You can learn about his travels here: https://www.travelisfataltoprejudice.com/

Andy is survived by his wife of 34 years, Mary; two children Cecilia (Sean) and Anthony (Amy); his mother, Maria DeRojas; his sister, Mary Cao-Laughlin (Mike); brother, Iggie; nephews, Andy and Mike; and their families. He is preceded in death by his father, Dr. Andres Cao.

A funeral mass will be held on October 16th 11:00 am at St. Isaac's Jogues Catholic Church in Orlando, Florida.  Masks are required to be worn in the church.  The family requests that unvaccinated adults use an N-95 mask.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to one of Andy's favorite non-profits, the Nature Conservancy and Fair Fight .

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us. - J.R.R. Tolkien