Andrew Patterson King was born in Austin, Texas on March 11, 1996. From the beginning, he was filled with joy and enthusiasm for the world around him, proclaiming with delight at three years old, “I’m so happy I was born!”
Growing up in Austin, he attended Parkside Community School with dear friends and neighbors. Every summer, Andrew experienced Texas adventures with dad, David, and brother, Christopher, on their annual “Camp Daddy” trips and later participated in Camp Flaming Arrow, a group that made many fun memories. Andrew spent middle school at St. Francis, where he loved connecting with friends on long walks at lunch and playing Magic: The Gathering in the afternoons. It was there he aced the PSAT as a seventh grader, qualifying him to attend Duke TIP summer programs, which he boldly did, despite profound shyness. With his ambition sparked, he continued to push himself by attending a Latin immersion summer program in Italy, and later, spending a semester away in New York City. Andrew graduated from Khabele High School in Austin, a lovely community where he enjoyed the friendship of peers, especially in Outdoor Leadership, and the mentorship of numerous valued advisors, particularly with his Independent Study in American History, and his YouTube Channel: Random History with Andrew. True to his determined nature, he undertook SAT preparation on his own, achieving just under a perfect score. When he received the results, he was thrilled, and then said, “Every human being is precious – this doesn’t make me different”.
He briefly attended his dream college, Vanderbilt University, when he was stricken with schizoaffective disorder. He then joined family in Albuquerque, where, despite his illness, he excelled in his study of economics at the University of New Mexico, and for a brief time, ‘held down the fries’ at Chic-fil-A, and was a member of Phi Delta Theta Fraternity, serving as an officer, surrounded by the extraordinary kindness of the Phi Delt brothers. Next, he taught himself enough programming to join a Galvanize Bootcamp. In recent days, he had been volunteering on the repair team with Habitat for Humanity and in the warehouse at Roadrunner Foodbank. He always enjoyed archery, hiking, and his very good dog, Finley.
Andrew is survived by a loving family and treasured friends. We will forever remember his love of literature, history, philosophy, language, music, and comedy, his passion for justice, and his ardent dreams of public service. Above all, we will remember and celebrate his delightful, generous, brave, and intrepid spirit.
We are proud not only of the rich variety of experiences Andrew pursued prior to his illness, but of the strength, courage, endurance, good humor, and determination with which he fought to overcome schizoaffective disorder for the past seven years.
In memory of Andrew and the countless others who have lost either their lives or their quality of life to mental illness, we encourage you to understand those illnesses not as psychological states with which they struggle, but as brain disorders – medically, not so different from seizure disorders, for example. Pray for increasingly effective medications.
We also invite you to read or listen to the book, Brain Energy, by Dr. Chris Palmer. Although this new understanding of brain disorders was too new or too late, ultimately, to protect Andrew, it charts new territory in the following ways: it distinguishes between psychological disturbances which might need treatment, but are a normal part of life, and brain disorders, which are not that; it offers a simple definition of what a brain disorder is, providing clarity that can reduce fear and stigma, and improve early intervention; and it sheds light on the powerful discovery that our mitochondria can be positively influenced to turn off problematic expressions of our genes and can facilitate our bodies’ self-healing processes. Maybe most promising is the application of this new understanding for prevention…An astounding percentage of the population has a serious mental illness. And the number is growing. Andrew reminded us that ‘every human being is precious’. We think Andrew, with all his enthusiasm for life and his wish to make a positive contribution, provides a meaningful example of what not only the individual and their loved ones lose, but what society loses, to these illnesses. Brain Energy offers hope for preventing and reversing them. Please visit brainenergy.com
May we all remember to be kind – it can be hard to imagine the burden another might be carrying.
On the Death of the Beloved by John O’Donohue
Though we need to weep your loss,
You dwell in that safe place in our hearts,
Where no storm or night or pain can reach you.
Your love was like the dawn
Brightening over our lives
Awakening beneath the dark
A further adventure of color.
The sound of your voice
Found for us
A new music
That brightened everything.
Whatever you enfolded in your gaze
Quickened in the joy of its being;
You placed smiles like flowers
On the altar of the heart.
Your mind always sparkled
With wonder at things.
Though your days here were brief,
Your spirit was live, awake, complete.
We look towards each other no longer
From the old distance of our names;
Now you dwell inside the rhythm of breath,
As close to us as we are to ourselves.
Though we cannot see you with outward eyes,
We know our soul's gaze is upon your face,
Smiling back at us from within everything
To which we bring our best refinement.
Let us not look for you only in memory,
Where we would grow lonely without you.
You would want us to find you in presence,
Beside us when beauty brightens,
When kindness glows
And music echoes eternal tones.
When orchids brighten the earth,
Darkest winter has turned to spring;
May this dark grief flower with hope
In every heart that loves you.
May you continue to inspire us:
To enter each day with a generous heart.
To serve the call of courage and love
Until we see your beautiful face again
In that land where there is no more separation,
Where all tears will be wiped from our mind,
And where we will never lose you again.
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About |
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| Name | Andrew Patterson King |
| Date of Birth | March 11th, 1996 |
| Date of Death | June 29th, 2023 |
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Memorial |
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| Funeral Home | Rivera Family Funeral Home - Santa Fe | |
| Address |
417 Rodeo Road Santa Fe NM 87505 United States |
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published a tribute .
Very sorry for your loss. May Andrew rest in peace in our Fathers arms. I empathize with Andrew's condition. About 8 years ago I discovered I have a rare gene disorder as well effecting my BH2/BH4 recycling. It results in lower neurotransmitter production and high H2O2 production and ROS stress. QDPR/DHFR genes. Along with poor 5-MTHFR genes. Over the last 8 years i've done extensive research to find ways to reduce and improve my brain health. I've essentially been depressed my whole life and it's my normal so I don't really no anything different. I hope your book and research are successfull and help others. God bless your family.
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Thank you so much. I admire your tenacity in doing research while experiencing symptoms. It can be so challenging. I wish you all the best!
published a comment .
Dear Julie,
Thanks for sending us the blessing message for Andrew. I responded to you upon receipt; I am still deeply moved; I hope you got that brief message. Your mom Carlyn is my best friend and her love for Andrew came from the beginning when she pre-read each piece of literature she sent him. Thanks for coming back to Albuquerque. I met Andrew once; I remember a handsome young man who loved history. A hard loss.
Thanks for sharing some research from your studies on Andrew's condition. vVery generous and loving. Love, Sallie and Jess
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published a tribute .
So very sorry to hear about the death of your beautiful, beloved boy. Maeve and I and our whole family send love and condolences. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
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published a tribute .
I’m new to. The backstory but saw that my son was born on the same month and a year earlier. I can’t express enough as a mother how deeply I empathize with your loss. I am just learning of the diet and brain connection, although familiar with tiny bits of history peeking into this form of treatment before the Goliath pharmaceutical complex stepped in and scared the science away. I can see a light growing in the dark, a ground roots rumbling from every direction on this globe! May God give you strength and everyone strength and courage to not give up.
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published a tribute .
Julie, David, and family,
Please accept my deepest condolences on the loss of Andrew. This beautiful tribute brings to life what the world just lost.
I'm sorry I couldn't help save him. I worry about the thousands of other people just like him still on my wait list and the countless others who don't even know that it's possible to recover from schizoaffective disorder. Andrew's death speaks to the urgency and gravity of better addressing these serious, sometimes-fatal disorders.
I hope that you and your family can somehow find strength and comfort at this difficult time.
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Thank you so much for your heartfelt message, Dr. Palmer. We know how hard you’re working to educate the world about Brain Energy and to implement metabolic approaches to psychiatric illnesses, which will have a tremendous impact on countless lives. Andrew’s life inspires us to support your efforts.
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published a tribute .
RIP Andrew. Your participation in this remarkable research will no doubt improve the lives of many more who follow. Thank you
For the sake of Dr. Palmer and others, I feel the need to clarify that Andrew was not involved in the research. His illness was mostly managed with medication. We so wish he'd had more time to implement metabolic interventions, which he'd recently begun to take very seriously, but it was not to be. Our fervent hope in sharing Andrew's story is that others might benefit from metabolic psychiatry.
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published a tribute .
David and Julie, Our sincerest sympathy on the loss of your handsome and precious son Andrew. John 11:25-26, I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.”
Mr. and Mrs. Chapa, Thank you so much for your kind comments and good wishes.
Much love,
Julie
published a comment .
What a beautiful tribute to Andrew, your precious son. He leaves the world with a better understanding of mental illness, and, how we all need to realize that brain disease is just that, a disease. Unfortunately, most don't understand this, but, thanks to your son, hopefully many more will. God give you strength and comfort during this difficult time.
Thank you so much, Theresa. This is our fervent hope. BrainEnergy.com and JulieFast.com are two excellent sources of helpful information.
published a comment .
So sorry for your loss…I know how it feels…lost my son last year…nothing can be worse.
It looks like he was a beautiful person. You will have love in your heart for him forever. As long as we love them and remember , they will stay alive.
published a comment .
I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s heartbreaking. No words can describe your pain. But thanks for sharing this story. Was he showing any warning or concerning sign when he was adolescent years before developing schizophrenia? I’m sort of curious since he seemed very active and well achieved.
This reply is specifically to Rozita, but might go to the entire thread, so thank you for your understanding. Andrew was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which is not the same as schizophrenia. What those brain disorders have in common is that they both involve psychosis - you can think of psychosis as a dream state (nightmarish) from which you can not wake yourself up. With schizoaffective disorder, the person can have depression or mania, and psychosis can occur with either state. When Andrew experienced mood disturbances, it was most often dysphoric mania with psychosis - extremely uncomfortable - medication prevented him from experiencing that too intensely most of the time. But that state can occur to varying degrees of intensity, and most medications come with very difficult side effects.
Keep in mind, as Dr. Palmer describes in his book, psychiatric diagnoses are mostly a description of a collection of symptoms -- syndromes. Those descriptions are not always accurate, and they don't provide much insight into what is causing them. Each person's case is unique.
To answer your question, Andrew was both incredibly tough in spirit and highly sensitive to things like food and sleep from the time he was born. So we value his enthusiasm and drive all the more - he had that throughout his life.
During early childhood, he experienced symptoms that looked a lot like what he went through in the last seven years. We were able to resolve them through trial and error of natural interventions, and once we did, life was amazing. Later, during adolescence, he had a period of extreme social fear and isolation, and he overcame that after spending several weeks at a wilderness therapy program. The next two years of his life were among the happiest.
It's because of those experiences, even before Dr. Palmer's book came out, that we believed - knew! - that 'mental illness' begins in the body and can be resolved. In hindsight, we realize the interventions we found were 'metabolic interventions' and were healing the mitochondria.
As a young adult, however, Andrew's condition was a bit more complicated, and it was harder for us to work together to untangle it. He needed medication -- it can be a lifesaver at stopping psychosis, for example -- but it can also further complicate things. Andrew tried so hard. We all did. We believe the day he died, a fatal combination of factors came together to overtake his brain.
I think if Dr. Palmer's book had been out, along with the teaching of Andrew Huberman at Stanford -- we would have understood that what we thought of as Andrew's sensitivities were related to mitochondrial function, and we could have been more deliberate about protecting mitochondrial health when he went away to college. College is probably one of the very hardest environments to do that. I dream of schools offering a 'Metabolic Dorm' with the hope they would eventually become the norm, and the epidemic of chronic illness (mental, autoimmune, etc) we are currently experiencing would start to wane.
Lately, illnesses that used to not manifest until early adulthood are appearing in children, and I think this is largely due to insulin resistance overall, and specifically in the brain (also plays a role in dementia and Alzhiemer's). Thank God for Dr. Palmer and his new insight - let's work together to turn it around.
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published a tribute .
What a beautiful tribute to such an exceptional young man. Our son was recently diagnosed with the same brain disorder. We recently came across Dr. Palmer’s book. Thank you for sharing your journey.
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I wish you all the best. I hope your son's illness can be put into remission very soon. There are additional helpful resources -- a lot of Andrew Huberman's teaching on his podcast supports mitochondrial health, and Julie Fast's work (she has schizoaffective disorder) is extremely beneficial for navigating the illness as long as it is present. I wish you all the best
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published a tribute .
As we are enduring a brain disorder with a member of our family, we can empathize with the tragedy. May God give you the strength to handle this.
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published a tribute .
I'm so very sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing the story of his struggle as well as the rest of his beautiful life. It seems that often the most lively, loving, and sensitive people are also the most vulnerable to brain disorders. I am thankful for the beginnings we see in treatment and pray they continue until brain disorders can be treated quickly and effectively.
May Andrew's memory be a blessing.
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published a tribute .
I’m so sorry for your loss. I too have a son with this illness. Obviously, Andrew was very much loved and an extraordinary person. Thank you for bringing more awareness to Chris Palmer’s work in Brain Energy. I believe it will make a difference.
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published a tribute .
What a beautiful boy. Thank you for sharing his story and his unique preciousness. Thank you for being brave and celebrating his life, while trying to help other families with beautiful, amazing children who are also on this journey. May God bless you and keep you, and bring you peace. May knowledge and healing for sufferers of brain disorders come so soon. With love and sorrow for you and your family.
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published a comment .
Sharing his story will help others. Dr. Palmer wants all to know that these illnesses can be treated in todays world. Prayers to your family for your loss, our loss.
published a comment .
My heartfelt condolences to your family and the many friends of this remarkable young man. Thank you for sharing his story and your continued commitment of reaching out to other families who in the present or future will be facing this challenge. May GOD bless and give your family comfort always.
Thank you for your kind and encouraging words, Cathy. We join your prayers for the healing of brain disorders forevermore.
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published a tribute .
What a wonderful tribute to an outstanding young man. Reading the reference to the Brain Energy book reminded me of how I was impacted when I listened to it on Audible. We have so much to learn and this book certainly highlights and explains so much to help us on this complex mitochondrial journey of discovery. With deepest sympathies to all who knew Andrew
(From someone who really wants to understand more here in England)
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published a tribute .
Thank you for sharing Andrew’s story. What a blessing he was. Wishing you all peace and strength.
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published a tribute .
I am so touched by your beautiful words of love at this time of great loss and sadness. My heart is full of love and I wish you peace in the times ahead. My countryman John O Donohue's words are a beautiful tribute to Andrew
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published a tribute .
I am so sorry for your great loss. I too had a child diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder at age 18. He is thriving due his indomitable spirit and a whole body approach, as you referenced with Dr Palmer's philosophy. I pray you find peace in this time of great grief. I also pray that the scientists of today begin looking at the brain as an organ and treating mental disorders as the brain diseases they are. I share in your grief and lift you up in my thoughts.
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published a tribute .
I am deeply sorry for your loss. What a wonderful man the world lost! Thank you for posting info about Brain Energy. I will share
God bless you all.
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published a tribute .
I’m one of the leaders for the Repair Program out at Habitat for Humanity. I got to know Andrew through all the times he came out with us to serve his community. Every time he came out he worked incredibly hard and was willing to tackle any task we had for him. He had an incredibly big heart and it showed in the actions he took for his community. My team of regular volunteers and I were deeply saddened when we heard about his passing. Everyone from my recurring volunteers to new ones enjoyed working with him. I cannot express enough how his actions impacted so many families in this community through our program, and I’m sure with the other great things he was apart of. My deepest condolences to his family and those who survive him.
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Nate, thank you so much for your kind words. Andrew told me he appreciated you and enjoyed working with you and the team.
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published a tribute .
Andrew was such a kind and intelligent person who helped improve the lives of so many people here in the Albuquerque community. On behalf of the Greater Albuquerque Habitat for Humanity and all the volunteers who worked beside Andrew, we send our condolences and best wishes to all of his friends and family who have suffered this loss. He will be greatly missed as a part of our team. May his soul rest in peace.
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Heather, thank you so much for your kinds words, we appreciate them so much.
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published a tribute .
What a huge loss for all of us. I’m a volunteer at Habitat for Humanity and remember working with Andrew. His great attitude and enthusiasm for hard work will be missed. My sincere thoughts are with you during this dark period.
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