Michael Andrew Coco

Our loving son and brother, Michael Andrew "Andy" Coco, died on Wednesday, February 20, 2019, leaving behind his parents, Michael and Catherine Coco; his sister and brother-in-law, Marie and Randy Brannen, nieces Sophie Bevins, Katie Brannen and Ashlyn Coco; nephews Kevin Brannen, Sawyer Brannen and Janson Coco; and his brother Patrick Coco.

Andy was born at Park Plaza Hospital in Houston on June 25, 1975, graduated from Cypress Creek High School where he was a proud member of the FFA, and worked for many years at the family Ace Hardware store.  He always had a smile for the regular customers and employees with whom he liked to chat.

His family moved to the country when he was 24, and he enjoyed so much about living there: taking care of his horse Stormie who has been his girl for over 20 years, riding his four-wheeler and giving rides to his young nieces and nephews, working in his garden, and fishing in the neighbor's pond.  His garden produced some great vegetables, and he made us lots of pickles.  He worked so hard chopping wood, mowing, hanging the Christmas lights and countless other chores to help out his parents.

Andy enjoyed traveling with his parents, particularly cruises with an all-you-can-eat buffet.  In recent years they took some great trips together; the most recent highlight was swimming with a dolphin.  He liked camping and especially fishing.  He loved attending Astros games with his dad and always brought baseballs along to get signed by the team.  He was an avid collector of baseball cards, ball caps and model trains.  He took extreme pleasure at frequently besting his brother-in-law Randy at PlayStation basketball or football.  Every Friday, Andy and his mom had their outing day to town to run errands, have lunch and see the occasional movie.  He always looked forward to these excursions.

He loved visiting with extended family at holidays and greeted everyone with his huge grin.  He had such a gift for remembering details about everybody and loved sharing stories.

In 1993, he was profoundly blessed to be the recipient of a heart transplant, and we will forever be grateful to his donor for the gift of life.  As hard and scary as that surgery was, Andy never complained or felt sorry for himself.  Should we all be so brave.

If you feel inclined, please donate in memory of Michael Andrew Coco to DonateLife, a nonprofit organization increasing the number of donated organs, eyes and tissue available to save and heal lives through transplantation while developing a culture where donation is embraced as a fundamental human responsibility.   Find more about it at DonateLife.net.

Andy was a loving son, brother and uncle who never hurt anyone and did his own best at whatever he worked on.  He leaves a huge hole in our family, and we are going to miss him for the rest of our lives.