The eulogy given by Margaret Andrews, Owen's enrichment tutor

I really got to know Owen when he was in first grade. I was nervous because he was so quiet, I wondered why he was always trying to be invisible when I did math with his class. Then I watched him work independently and I was amazed. Owen was able to manipulate numbers in ways I had rarely seen from a first grade student. When I spoke to him about it he explained his ideas, I was impressed. He stood out because he didn’t want to stand out he wanted to be just like his peers. Owen wrote a book of monster story problems with great illustrations and we published it.

For the past two years Owen and I shared at least an hour together in the middle school math room every week. It was our special time. It was usually on Friday after school when we were both tired but it was okay because Owen had energy for both of us, I was always inspired by his spirit and commitment. Owen and I investigated math ideas and challenged each other to solve puzzles and problems. Most of the time we did math but sometimes we checked out stuff that was just cool. We were fascinated and perplexed by the work of Chris Jordan. Owen knew that there was a great deal of math embedded in this art and he was drawn to the challenge of figuring out how it was done. The truth is it was an unfair relationship because I learned far more from Owen than I could ever have given. Owen was able to see patterns and the solutions to complex ideas; he was able to use the math he knew to figure out the math he had never seen before. His conjectures were usually correct and I was usually amazed at the creativity and invention he would use to get to the correct answer.


When I was offered a position to be at LREI 7 years ago, I was promised the opportunity to work with some of the most inquisitive and delightful children. As a teacher I could not turn this opportunity down. LREI kept their promise, Owen was special, he was a curious, charming and wonderful child. His eyes lit up even more when he learned something new or saw something cool but he never stopped there. He asked more questions and kept going back for more details until he was sure he understood it and could do it on his own.

Owen and I shared many things, we have freckles, we love to laugh, we enjoy playing set and 24, we both ask a lot of questions, we know that white chocolate Kit Kats are the best candy on Earth and that is why he and I have a secret hiding place in the math room where we keep our stash safe for only us, we know that math is really fun and really cool, we know that seeing new patterns that occur naturally in numbers is like magic and we both love Julian!

I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to be his teacher and his friend. Owen has left us way too soon, but not before leaving a mark on our lives. He will always be in our minds and in our hearts.