The English Department family lost a wonderful alumnus on New Year’s Day when Andrew Kruse-Ross (graduated December 2000), died suddenly and far too soon. His wife, UM-Flint alumna Aimee Suzanne (Long), said the cause was a genetic pulmonary embolism. Andrew was forty-two years old. Older faculty may remember him as good-natured, friendly, occasionally goofy, and possessed of the most appealing curly hair imaginable (which he kept till the end). On the other hand, those persons may not remember him because I kept him largely to myself–I believe he took five courses from me in all, most of them in Irish writing. In fact, he met his future bride in my Literature of Greece and Rome class, making that my only successful foray into matchmaking, however unwitting.
He eventually made his way to Northern Michigan and its creative writing master’s program. After finishing his MFA, he worked as the founding editor of a regional arts and entertainment magazine in Green Bay, Frankly Green Bay, where Aimee Suzanne is the sales force. That journal, an arm of Frank L. Hermans Productions, has posted multiple items on the magnitude of his loss on personal and professional levels. He was a popular figure, largely because of his sense of humor, which nearly everyone commenting on his passing has mentioned. His obituary captured a bit more of the man he became:
Andrew loved his wife and family above all else, but he also was fond of well-bred English Setters, fishing, playing ambient guitar, outdoor photography, taming and healing injured squirrels and writing poetry. As a student of Buddhism, his practice colored his remaining years with the belief that all of life, even the difficulties, should be embraced as life-serving lessons. Yet for all these attributes, he recently confessed that he did not yet understand the wind.
Andrew was an effortless comedian with a wit that was unparalleled. His laugh and the laughter he created will be missed.
He was easy-going and gentle, which endeared him to those who met him. One thing that endeared him to me was that it took about a week for him to move from “Dr. Foster” to “Fos” as his mode of addressing me. No other student ever demonstrated such ease so quickly. We pass along our sympathy and grief to his family and friends, and especially to Aimee Suzanne. His death leaves a hole in the world. We need more people like him.
–Tom Foster