Andre Sapien

Born on January 8th,1964 to Beatrice and Arturo Sapien in Globe, Arizona. He will be joining his sister Beatrice Ann Grumke and the rest of his family and friends in heaven. He passed away on Sunday morning, October 23rd. Finally escaping his less than a year long battle with cancer. He was only 52 years old.

Andre is survived by his mother and father, his Uncles Raymond Soltero, Arthur Sancedo Jr. and family, Arturo and Elsa Saldivar and family, his first wife Michele and their two daughters Isabella and Alexandra, his second wife Jennifer and their son Milo and stepson Mark, his niece Beatrice Cimone Grumke and her children Beatrice Eden and Lazarus Jay , his nephew Grayson Grumke, numerous aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.

Andre grew up in the Encanto neighborhood, attending Franklin grade school, Kenilworth, Maie B Heard and North and Central High Schools. He was popular, making many friends that he kept up with throughout his life. His first car was a copy of the General Lee on the Dukes of Hazard TV show. He drove it around town just as they did on the show, fast and crazy.

After high school Andre got interested in Vespa and Lambretta motor scooters and in the following years it became a lifelong obsession. He bought old ones and fixed them up, attended scooter ralleys all over the country, and made many great friends.

In 1982 he met Michele Clarke. They were married in 1991 in Las Vegas and had their first child Isabella Ann Sapien in 1993 and their second child, Alexandra Marie Sapien in 1995. They lived in the FQ Storybook neighborhood, fixing up an old 1932 house while raising their two children and 3 dachshunds. In 1998 they separated but remained friends.

Andre met Jennifer Kingsley the day after she moved to Phoenix on February 1, 1999. Other than vacations, their favorite thing to do together was entertaining at home. They both enjoyed cooking and would enjoy creating fun meals at home. Their son Arlen Milo Sapien was born on February 1, 2007. In 2010, they realized that living together was not working - but they continued to do things with Milo as a family. They married on October 17, 2016 while Andre was in the hospital.

Andre lived a simple life - wearing the same style clothes every day. Nothing extravagant was needed in his life. He loved his job at SRP and the family of friends that he worked with. In his last few days, many co-workers from SRP took time to stop by and visit him, offering whatever he needed. His friends in the Union provided much help and support - many times taking a collection up for his medical bills and just giving him an envelope of cash for whatever he needed to pay. He always spoke of his friends, his great bosses, and his happiness at SRP.

We will miss his zest for life, his contagious laughter, his zany sense of humor, his passion for motorcycles and scooters, his love for animals, his love of cooking, eating and drinking, his love for his children and family, his big heart and his loud presence that alway got the party started!

Andre's body will be laid to rest at Resthaven Memorial Gardens in a plain pine box coffin as requested, on Saturday November 5th, 2016.