Andrew Lee March, of Lakewood, CO, passed away on July 15, 2018 from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 85. He was born in New Haven, CT, and spent most of his youth in Swarthmore, PA.
He attended Kenyon College for one year before transferring to Swarthmore College, graduating in 1953 with a BA in Language and Literature. He was a Fulbright Scholar in 1953 and taught in Austria for one year. He married his first wife, Susan Marx, in 1954. From 1955-1963 he served as an officer in the U.S. Navy and in the Naval Reserve.
Andy received an MA in Geography from Syracuse University and a PhD in Geography and China Studies from the University of Washington. During his academic career that spanned over four decades, he held faculty teaching positions at Ohio State University, Columbia University, Queens College, the University of Denver, and the Metropolitan State University of Denver. In 1968, while a faculty member at Columbia, he participated in the campus-wide protests against the war in Vietnam. He taught a wide range of topics, including geography, environmental science, and English as a second language. Later in his career he taught online courses and worked as a school bus driver for Jefferson County Public Schools, primarily serving special-needs children and adults.
His publications include The Idea of China: Myth and Theory in Geographic Thought, Common Edible and Medicinal Plants of Colorado, The Quest for Wild Jelly, The Mushroom Basket, The Wild Plant Companion, and The Wild Taste. The last five books were co-authored with his wife, Kathryn, whom he married in 1969. He also published numerous papers, poems, essays, and newspaper columns.
He loved nature, language, literature, and ideas. Andy believed in non-violence and simplicity of lifestyle and found spiritual comfort in nature, meditations, and the silent gatherings of Quaker meetings. He was also interested in Buddhism and Chinese Taoism.
Andy became a member of the Boulder Friends Meeting in 1999. He served on Ministry and Counsel and Ministry and Worship Committees. But his heart and dedication was to the Service Committee, where he served from 1998 until 2016, when his illness made continuing impossible. For many years he faithfully organized the Meeting’s monthly dinner preparation at the Boulder Homeless Shelter, went to distribute sandwiches to the homeless around the library, and provided rides to Meeting to Friends who lived in the south of Denver or Golden.
He was very quiet and strove everywhere for simplicity. But he was also warm and greeted us with a smile and a hug when we approached him. He is missed by our Meeting.
Andy is survived by his wife of 48 years, Kathryn, and his four children and seven grandchildren.
A memorial service to celebrate Andrew March’s life was held on August 19, 2018.
Respectfully submitted by Maria Krenz and Fran Boler, Boulder Friends Meeting