Andrea Karen Buenzli
January 4, 1940 – August 23, 2015
Andrea was the youngest of five girls born to Andy and Katie Holme. Her father was a world war I veteran and a handyman, buying houses then fixing them and selling them. Andrea was born in Sioux City, Iowa then moved with her family to Pacific Grove, California where she graduated from high school. Her family then moved to San Jose, California where Andrea then attended San Jose State University. After graduating with a teaching degree, Andrea then began what was to be a forty plus year career teaching elementary grade school children. Over the course of her career she taught in several school districts in southern California, finishing up her teaching career in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Andrea was married once for a short time to an airline pilot and bore no children. She loved children however and enjoyed telling funny stories about the students in her classrooms. She took her job of teaching students very seriously and was never afraid to take on school management in the interests of the child and effective instruction. Andrea found community in several churches over the years, most notably Unity and Center for Spiritual Living. An eternal optimist, Andrea always saw the bright side of any situation and would share her optimism with those around her, lifting their spirits whenever needed. She liked to attend conferences as well as her high school reunions. As the eternal optimist, Andrea believed in a bright future for mankind and all sentient beings, helping organize and sometimes speak at conference. One conference she helped organize had Buckminster Fuller as a speaker and she was fortunate enough to drive him to the airport having private time with him. Andrea both espoused and practiced prayer and the power of positive thinking. Andrea surrounded herself with positive affirmations both for herself and others. She truly made efforts to ‘walk the talk’.
Andrea was very interested in retiring overseas and attended several International Living conferences over the years as a part of her search. She settled on the Chapala area of Mexico and spent the last eight years or so of her life there. Andrea really enjoyed Chapala and all the friends she made while living there. The last of her generation, Andrea was seventy five years old when she passed away.