Growing up with his mom, first in Brooklyn, then in Queens, Robert George Andrews loved reaching out to new friends.  “He literally had a heart of gold,” said his dad, Torin Reid, a writer and 28-year NYC subway motorman. “He was willing to be a loyal friend to anyone.”

He was only 24 years old, but he suffered from asthma throughout his brief life. When he contracted coronavirus, it hit him hard. He was admitted to Jamaica Hospital on March 27th.  Three days later, he died.

Andrews attended the Queens High School for Information and Technology in Far Rockaway where he could indulge his love of all things tech, like building battle robots for competitions.

His dad said he was particularly proud of Robert’s sense of adventure, taking long trips, on his own, to Florida and England to visit family. At 18, he left New York for San Antonio, Texas, to live with friends and worked two jobs to make a go of it. Reid said it reminded him of how he left home to join the Army when he was a young man.

But the call of New York was too strong for Robert George Andrews, and he returned.  Before Coronavirus took him, he worked part time for Best Buy while he continued his coursework, still captured by the ever-changing world of technology.

His father says he will miss everything about his sweet and outgoing son, saying, “He was a child whose first thought was always to connect and communicate with everyone around him.”