Daren Sharp Andrus' Obituary
Daren Sharp Andrus, 58, embarked on his final excursion on April 28, 2021. Daren was born on August 12, 1962 in Murray, Utah to M. Darnell and Bonnie Sharp Andrus. Daren was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Daren attended Draper Elementary, Mt. Jordan Middle School and graduated from Alta High School and then attended the University of Utah. He moved to Seattle, WA in 1991. He was an avid fan of the Utah Utes and the Seattle Seahawks. He spent most of his adult life in Seattle, WA. Daren encircled himself with dear friends that became family to him. Their love sustained him through many trials. He always referred to them as his 2nd family. (Thank you, you know who you are).
Daren loved to travel and visited many countries around the world. His nieces and nephews really enjoyed talking to Daren and were entertained with his travel stories in his crazy, bubbly, colorful conversations. He enjoyed watching TV with them when they were visiting Grandma. Daren loved cooking and loved to entertain his friends with his cooking ability and parties. He was in the hospitality industry for most of his life including cook, waiter, bar tender and working in tourism. His signature “Merry Christmas” sign showing which country of the world he was in, has been missed as his health declined the last several years.
Daren encouraged his niece to follow her dream of traveling by being a flight attendant. He also gave employment advice to his younger sister and told her to always look for the extra perks associated with the job like working for Snowbird and being able to ski for free.
Daren’s Grandfather Andrus used to tell his parents that Daren lived up to his name – “dare in” because he was always doing something interesting. One day when he was in elementary school, he decided to walk home backwards. He lived about 2 blocks from the school. He walked backwards into a slow moving car. He wasn’t hurt and just got a little dirty. The driver of the car was very surprised. Another time he was playing baseball at the old Draper Park and got hit in the nose with a baseball. He rode his bike all the way to the doctor’s house with a broken nose. The doctor lived next to us and promptly put his nose back in place. The park was a couple of miles from our home.
He was fortunate to have a middle school teacher who arranged for her classes to visit the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, UT. One of his fondest memories was playing the Tabernacle organ on that field trip.
Daren was very compassionate. Whenever he knew someone was going to feed the homeless he wanted to help. One of his great joys was donating his time to help distribute food for the Utah Food Bank. He had many cherished friends at the Food Bank that he worked with and their kindness to him was appreciated.
Daren is survived by his mother, Bonnie, and his sisters, Jody Jenkins, Teri Jackson, Tracy (Doug) King- Swensen, Allison (Karl) King, Erika (Chad) Iverson; brothers, Barry (Dee) Andrus, Rand (Linda) Andrus and many nieces and nephews.
Daren is preceded in death by his father, Darnell, and his sister, Janilyn Graham, and niece, Kami King.
We love you buddy.
A Memorial Open House will be held on May 15, 2021 from 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm at the Draper 7th Ward, 12300 South 600 East, Draper, UT.
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