Andre Kodiah Sainsbury

Andre Kodiak Sainsbury, age 24, died on Friday, Sept. 13, 2024, in a car accident near Wisdom, Montana.

Andre was born in Belarus on May 29th, 2000. His original name was Andrei Viktorovich Azarov and his parents were deprived of parental rights when he was two. He spent time in a hospital being treated for rickets, then lived in an orphanage for 6 months. He was adopted by Lynn Sainsbury in September of 2003.

They lived in Potomac for two years where he learned the important skills of tricycle riding, being pulled on a sled along an icy back road, and wooden block building, and he was introduced to Legos, which became a childhood passion. His first Halloween began an obsession with the holiday and he thought of it most of the year! He attended Clark Fork School for pre-school and had a grand time there. He started regular school in Helena when he and his mom moved there and he attended Central Elementary from K through the first half of second grade. There his building skills were augmented with bike riding with neighborhood kids, jumping on the tramp and hanging out with his Big Brother, Mark Reisel, who took him on weekly adventures around town, hikes, and skiing. 

Lynn was offered a job in Missoula so the pair of them moved back to Potomac. He joined the local 4H club and started down his path of becoming a chicken whisperer, adding to the animals he always loved, cats. He also became enamored of insects and spiders and would frequently sneak up on flies, catch them gently with his fingers and toss them to the spiders, which he insisted be left alone in the house. 

He attended the local Potomac elementary school until 7th grade when he transferred to Target Range School, where he was on the robotics team and participated in Science Olympiad. He won first place in the state science fair for physical science.

Andre attended Big Sky High School and there met his best friend, JD, and the two of them became inseparable buddies for the remainder of his life. At 15 he joined the Civil Air Patrol and rose to the rank of second lieutenant. In high school he discovered he had a bent for the trades and decided after a gap year when he volunteered with Montana Conservation Corps to attend Highlands College in Butte for the pre-apprenticeship lineman program.

Upon earning his certificate he worked as a groundman helping to build wind farm substations in southeast Montana for five months. Working with the rough crowd of men did not suit his kind, quiet disposition so he decided to go to work for the Bureau of Land Management in Butte the next summer. There he found his niche, working outside in a field he believed in, land management, so he decided to pursue a degree in Natural Resource Conservation at the University of Montana. 

College coursework was not an easy thing for him, but he worked extremely hard and got a 4.0 his first semester and maintained a B+ average over his college career. He was able to earn college credit during a summer leadership program with Outward Bound, then returned to school. He then found a job on a trail crew with the Forest Service in West Yellowstone for the summer. He completed his junior year of college when he was hired by the Forest Service in Wisdom for a permanent seasonal trail position, and he was planning to graduate after two spring semesters. He was traveling home for the weekend when he was killed.

Everyone who knew Andre describes him as a sweet, loving, caring young man. He had such a love and affinity for animals of all kinds and frequently spent time just hanging out with his cats or his friends’ pets. He also enjoyed gaming, target shooting with JD, and taking long walks in the neighborhood.

Life was not easy for Andre given his early life, but he was always willing to do what it took to succeed, working harder than most people would have been willing to. With the Forest Service in Wisdom, he had found a place and people he enjoyed and was looking forward to a successful career working in the woods. His early departure from this world leaves us all with a little less gentleness and kindness. 

Andre is survived by his mom, Lynn Sainsbury; his aunt, Alison Sainsbury; his uncle John Sainsbury; cousins Hilary Nelson, Cassidy Sainsbury, Jason Evans and Connor Alisson; best friend, JD Mcgehee; his four Belorussian siblings, his sister Marie Sainsbury and his beloved cats, Pudge, Artemis, Willie, Habib and Biscuit.

He is preceded in death by his grandmother

A memorial service and celebration of Andre’s life will be held on Sunday, Oct. 27 at 3:00 p.m. at the Lubrecht Experimental Forest officiated by his Godmother, The Reverend Leeann Culbreath of Georgia.

To honor Andre’s love for insects, the family suggests memorial donations to the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium.