Obituary of Andrew James McKay

Watch the recording of Andrew's service https://video.ibm.com/embed/recorded/129249101

The family of Andrew James McKay, of Martensville, Sk., are heartbroken to announce the passing of our beautiful son, brother, father, uncle, and husband. Andrew passed away after a courageous and valiant fight with cancer. He passed in the loving arms of his wife & family on January 19th, 2021, at St Paul’s Palliative Care Unit, Saskatoon, Sk,. Andrew was 30 years old. Andrew is survived by his loving mother Marlene Mirasty, precious son Ladainian, father Kevin McKay & partner Audrey, cherished brother Darren Mckay & wife Lea Miquelis-McKay and their children Jacques & Jules, sister Jasmine Smith, devoted wife Fallon Nygaard-McKay, auntie Sharon, uncle Curt & their son Ben, auntie Moreen & daughter Kayla, uncle Robert & son Brody, the McKay Family, the Mentanko Family, the Nygaard Family, and his family in Nice, France. Andrew is survived by many aunts, uncles and cousins. Andrew is survived by all his friends that were like family to him. Andrew was predeceased by his grandmother Lydia Mirasty, & grandfather Dale McKay. He was also predeceased by some very special friends.

Andrew was born on February 2, 1990 at St Paul’s Hospital in Saskatoon. He grew up in the East College Park area and attended Roland Michener & St Augustine school. Andrew moved to Pike Lake with his family and attended Delisle Elementary School. Andrew attended Nutana Collegiate & Marion Graham High School. Andrew was blessed with his precious son Ladainian (Dain) on October 14, 2008. Dain was Andrew’s pride & joy. His world revolved around his son and they enjoyed watching movies, playing video games, going to Pike Lake to feed the birds, playing basketball, going to Waskesui, constantly joking with each other & reading books together to name just a few things. The love Andrew had for Dain was endless, and the memory of Andrew will live in his son Ladainian forever. Andrew had a passion for food. He was employed in the restaurant & food industry and was noted by his employers to be personable and an amazing cook. He loved working in the kitchen, supporting new staff, joking around while he worked and he made close friends in the industry. Andrew stopped working at Boffins at the University of Sk once he became ill. Andrew married the love of his life, Fallon Nygaard – Mentanko on August 30, 2020 in his mother Marlene’s beautiful backyard in Martensville & enjoyed a stunning reception at Lucky Bastards Distillery. He knew early on in their relationship that he wanted to marry Fallon, she was the most amazing support to Andrew during his illness and never left his side. Andrew had a special bond with his mother Marlene. As a child Andrew loved to dance and every day before he went to kindergarten they would dance in her living room to Blue Rodeo “ Head Over Heels.” He would jig for people when they came to visit and always put a smile on their faces. Andrew was a character, always looking for an opportunity to make someone laugh. But he also had a soft side and often asked his mom, when he was a child himself, if we could adopt children from third world countries. Andrew was very personable, he would strike up a conversation to anyone whether you were 2 years old or 80 years old, he always had a good story to share. He was no pushover, he stood up for what he believed in and verbalized his viewpoints openly. Andrew was kind to everyone he met and knew. Andrew’s mom watched how he dealt with his cruel diagnosis from day one. She never left his side for the year and a half that he endured it, she took him to his treatments weekly and they travelled together to Fort Langley, BC to see his naturopathic oncologist last February. She was so proud of the bravery he showed every single day to fight and the hope he had that the treatments would give him more time. Andrew moved in with his mom after his brain surgery In July 2019, and she cared for him while still continuing to work. She took leave to focus primarily on caring for Andrew in the recent weeks. She cared for him in their home until he was moved to the palliative care unit on January 17th. Andrew’s brother, Darren loved his little brother very much, they were as close as two brothers could be. When Andrew was born Darren couldn’t wait to see and hold him. Darren was Andrews protector. They spent hours and hours playing together with mini figures, watching movies, playing outside, going to the park, the list is long. As adults they enjoyed travelling together, spending time visiting, playing video games and going out to eat in some of their favourite restaurants. Andrew loved going fishing with his brother, son and dad. Darren & his wife Lea also took time off work and spent time caring for Andrew prior to him moving to the palliative care unit.  Andrew occasionally attended church with his dad and wife Fallon.

As a child, Andrew was involved in community sports including soccer and lacrosse. He loved horseback riding at Sandhills Stables. Andrew had a pet budgie named Blueberry and a cat named Lucy when he lived in Pike Lake. He loved to skateboard and the wheels on his board had to be replaced so many times because of his love for it. Andrew had a passion for basketball and he loved playing at the White Buffalo Youth Lodge with many of his closest friends. He would spend endless hours watching basketball & football on TSN. Andrew loved watching the Simpsons on Netflix and would often binge watch and tell his mom and son about some of the series. Andrew enjoyed sitting around the firepit in the backyard with family and chopping the wood for it. While Andrew recovered from chemo treatments, he would spend his evening playing video games with his brother Darren and his close friends. Andrew loved family gatherings at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving. He enjoyed family time visiting with his nephews and Fallon’s family. Andrew loved to travel. He enjoyed New York with his mom twice, London, Paris and Nice with his mom, friend Metro, brother Darren and wife Lea, Las Vegas with his family, and the Dominican with Fallon. One of his most favorite places was Vancouver, he returned there multiple times with Fallon and with family. His most recent trip there was in November. Andrew enjoyed roads trips to the lake, Edmonton, Calgary and the mountains. Andrew enjoyed going for dim sum with dad, brother, son Ladainian and friend Matt. Donations can be made to The Brain Tumor Foundation of Canada and the White Buffalo Youth Lodge, Saskatoon.  There will be a private family service at 2:00 pm Saturday, January 23, 2021 at Saskatoon Funeral Home and the livestreaming of the service can be watched at www.saskatoonfuneralhome.com. The family would like to thank all the doctors and nurses who cared for Andrew at the Neurology and Oncology Units. Thank you to Dr Vileschka and her staff at the Stonebridge Naturopathic Clinic. We would like to thank the Palliative Care unit, Dr Johnson and the nurses for caring for Andrew in the most gentle, kind, and compassionate way.