Yesterday, I, along with the rest of the Microsoft Exchange community, was shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely death of a colleague and friend, Andrew Ehrensing.
For those that never met Andrew, he was truly one of a kind. With his smile, laughter, and genuine good nature and charm, you were disarmed and put at ease. Everyone that met him became friends with Andrew instantly, and boy could he make you laugh with his stories.
Andrew spent his Microsoft career within Microsoft Consulting Services, working on many of the most challenging Exchange and Lync on-premises projects we could throw at him. Recently, he worked with several customers on the transition to Office 365. He worked tirelessly to meet the expectations of our customers and always over-delivered.
Andrew never shied away from passing on his wisdom, either. He taught during the Certified Master program, delivered many solid presentations at conferences like TechEd and MEC, and always made himself available to help out a friend or colleague with a challenging issue.
He approached everything with a passionate zeal, whether it be with work or in his personal life. He always strived for honesty and for doing right by his family and customers. If he didn’t agree with an approach the company or his friends were taking, he would not only tell us, but provide us the necessary evidence to see the error in our ways and wholeheartedly guide us toward the right path.
This is a terrible loss and our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to his wife, children, extended family, and friends.
Andrew will be forever remembered in the annals of Exchange history and in our hearts. If your life happened to be touched by Andrew, please share your anecdotes. We will collect them and share them with the family.
Rest in peace, Andrew. We miss you.