Andrew Lee Filer, 40

Andrew Lee Filera long time resident of Seattle WA died unexpectedly of natural causes on Oct 18 at the age of 40. From a young age, Andrew had a passion for computers, books, and the obscure. By age 8, he had become the neighborhood IT guy, as a teen, he received free devices to try out and review a new technology called MP3s, and by age 17 he was working for Wiktel as a computer programmer. He had a love for languages and enjoyed world travel. He visited New Zealand, South Africa, Germany, Poland, and Bulgaria. He also took countless trips across the U.S. and Canada, taking photographs as he traveled from Seattle to his childhood home in NW Minnesota. He self-published four books of his photography including Northeast, Sunsets, Everydot (a multi-year project where he photographed “every dot” on the map of North Dakota), and Small Places. He also had articles published in the Smithsonian and Atlantic magazines about his EveryDot project. He appreciated mass transit (and their maps) and was involved in various mass transit projects out West. He enjoyed history, designed the website for Pennington County Historical Society, and digitized the Holt newspaper as well as hundreds of family slides, photographs, and videos. He had a love for the arts and the obscure. He enjoyed retro appliances, package design, and book cover art. This love can be seen in his collection of “Exciting Books,” satirical book cover art of his making, a series prompted by his involvement in an ARG he helped create and run, which had participants from across the country. He also enjoyed the outdoors, gardening, and wild edible plants. He will be remembered by his coworkers, family, and friends for his kindness, creativity, determination, and sense of humor. Andy was born on December 4, 1980, and was confirmed and baptized at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Holt, MN. He graduated from Marshall County Central High School in 1999, and the University of Minnesota Minneapolis in 2003 with a degree in Computer Science. He worked for Wiktel for over a decade, ran his own website, and was a developer for Getty Images since 2013. He is preceded in death by his grandfather, Fredrick Voth, grandmother, Margaret Voth Thompson, step-grandfather, Eldon Thompson, uncle Wayne Voth, aunt Vicky Filer, and family friend, Caryl Bugge. He is survived by his parents Dennis Filer (Paula), Debra Filer (Tom Mayer), sister Hannah Filer (Dobril Vasilev), niece Rada, grandparents Herb and Dee Filer, uncles Todd Filer and Ron Voth, aunts Bobbi Frazier and Ann Voth, and several cousins. A celebration of Andrew’s life was held on November 14 at 6 pm at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Holt, MN.