Andrew Lee Hoover
Andrew Lee Hoover died Jan. 31, 2023 at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle with his family at his side. His death followed more than four years with cancer, during which he seized every day and became an inspiration to us all. He was 59.
Andy was born Dec. 7, 1963 to Ken and Judy Hoover in Racine, Wisc. The family soon moved to Whitewater, Wisc. where sister Erin was born, and then to Madison, Wisc. where Ken received his Ph.D. in political science.
Andy and Erin attended elementary and middle school in Wooster, Ohio where Ken took his first faculty position at the College of Wooster, and Judy began her career as a senior aide to the Mayor of the City of Wooster. Andy excelled in Boy Scouts, learning many of the backpacking and outdoor skills that he put to use later in life.
The family moved back to Racine, Wisc., where Andy and Erin attended J.I. Case High School, running Cross Country on a state-champion team. Andy graduated in June 1982. He attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minn., majoring in Economics and minoring in Art. He graduated in 1986. Andy worked several years in banking in the Twin Cities while studying Mandarin Chinese. He was set to move to Beijing in June 1989 when the Tiananmen Square protests, massacre and resulting crackdown changed his plans. He instead moved later that summer to Taiwan.
The move proved fortuitous. He worked in banking while sharpening his Mandarin at the Stanford Center at National Taiwan University. There, Andy met the love of his life, Soohyun Kim. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, she was pursuing her master’s degree in Chinese literature. They courted in Chinese, a second language for them both. They married on Sept. 12, 1992 in Bellingham, Wash., where Andy’s parents had resettled when his dad became chair of political science at Western Washington University and his mom went on to help lead the building and expansion of Whatcom Community College.
Andy and Soohyun, who adopted the American name Kristen, settled in the U-District of Seattle while Andy pursued his MBA at UW and began working at Microsoft in 1993. MBA in hand, he and Kristen then moved to Bellevue, walking distance from the Microsoft campus. Andy climbed the ranks to senior director of the Industry Strategy Enterprise and Partnerships Group amid the go-go years of this hi-tech-industry-defining company.
On April 9, 1999, Andy and Kristen were ecstatic to welcome their son, Benjamin Kim Hoover.
In 2004, Andy left Microsoft. He worked as a senior director at Continuum College at University of Washington until 2020. In 2007, his father died of terminal brain cancer (glioblastoma); in 2009, his mother died of bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma). In November 2018, Andy was diagnosed with ALK-positive non-small cell lung cancer, a rare, aggressive, incurable, cancer associated with a genetic mutation. With incredible drive, unshakeable faith, powerful medicines, remarkable friends, and a singularly dedicated spouse and family, Andy survived for more than four years.
Andy adjusted to every setback and continued to travel, hike, downhill and backcountry ski, making memories with friends and family. He traversed the entire state of Washington on the Pacific Crest Trail, earning the trail name “Positive” for his unfailing optimism, gratitude and kindness.
He and Kristen took enormous pride in seeing Benjamin graduate from UPenn with a bachelor’s in computer science in June 2021. Andy and Benjamin went on to log many more miles and take in many more mountain vistas together after Benjamin moved back to Seattle.
When Andy’s cancer moved to his brain and eventually his cerebral-spinal fluid by early January, the end came mercifully quickly. His life is a testament to the power of love, hope, faith, community, grit and the remarkable advances of medicine.
He is survived by his wife Kristen Soohyun Kim Hoover; son Benjamin Hoover, 23; sister Erin Hoover Barnett, her husband Galen Barnett and their son (Andy’s nephew) Cole Barnett, 17; maternal uncle and aunt John and Eileen Maybee and cousins Christine Dawson and Mark Maybee, and paternal aunt Shirley Hoover and cousins Grant Hoover and Lisa Curtis.
A memorial service will be Friday, March 24 at 1 p.m. at Bellevue Presbyterian Church, 1717 Bellevue Way NE, Bellevue, WA. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in Andrew Hoover’s name to ALK Research () to help find a cure to this pernicious cancer and to the Pacific Crest Trail Association (pcta.org) to preserve this national treasure for generations to come.
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