Andrew Barnes

Andrew Barnes 14Sep1968-10Jun2015

Andrew Ladislaus Barnes passed away on 10 Jun 2015 in a climbing accident
in the Shawangunk mountains of New York State. He was born in Calcutta, India,
the second of four children of Stanislaus and Grace Barnes, both from the
vicinity of Mangalore, India.

An idyllic childhood included close contact with an extended family
located near Mangalore, Bombay, and Nasik, a loving and encouraging home
environment, and a religious upbringing in a devoutly Roman Catholic family.

His basic education, from first to twelfth grade, was obtained entirely at
St. Xavier's Collegiate School, Calcutta, under the supervision of Jesuit
priests, one of whom, Fr. Goreaux (himself a student of Albert Einstein),
ignited Andrew's interest in mathematics, which thereafter became his first
passion.

A scholarship took him across the world to Yale University in the USA, where
his elder brother was also studying, and where he obtained his bachelor's
degree in mathematics in 1992. Yale and its academics made a profound
impression on him. Moving on to Duke University for graduate study, he
completed his PhD in mathematics some years later.

At Duke, he met and married a fellow student, Natalia Smelova, the true love
of his life, who compensated for the mathematician's eccentricities, and kept
him connected to everyday life.

Here too, he met Stein and Fabian, two top-notch Swiss rock climbers, who
introduced him to the sport that became a second passion, one bordering on
obsession. This propelled him to many places over the succeeding years,
including Mount Rainier, several trips to the Canadian Rockies, and yearly
pilgrimages to the `big walls' of Yosemite.

Both his wife and he had moved to Niskayuna in New York to work at GE Global
Research, and in 2004 they were blessed with a lovely daughter, Sophia, who
he took great pride in, and whose mathematical education, in particular, he
enjoyed supervising.

Andrew was generous, patient and personable, qualities endearing him to many
people in both the climbing and professional worlds. Curiously, he managed
this while remaining ruthlessly truthful, a fact that was initially
disconcerting to some. He believed in not doing things by half-measures. Thus
he lived life with uncommon intensity, allowing him to reach both mental and
physical heights.

He leaves behind a grieving wife, daughter, parents, three siblings, and many
relatives and friends who he touched, and often inspired. The world is a
poorer place without him.

A wake will be held on Monday, June 15, 2015, 4-7 p.m. at New Comer Funeral
Home, 343 New Karner Rd, Colonie, NY. The Liturgy of Christian Death and Burial
will be celebrated at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 16, 2015, at St. John the
Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 806 Union St., Schnectady. Interment will
follow in Most Holy Redeemer Cemetery, 2501 Troy Schenectady Rd., Schenectady.
Contributions may be made in Andrew Barnes' memory to Playground Fund, Holy
Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church, 617 Sand Creek Rd., Colonie, NY 12205.