JuneWarren-Nickle's mourns loss of Oilweek associate editor Andrea Lorenz
Andrea (Andie) W. Lorenz, beloved wife of Pat Cunningham and mother of Margarita of Calgary, passed away at the Foothills Hospital on Sept. 21, 2009, at the age of 52 years. Besides her loving husband, Andie will be dearly missed by her daughter Margarita and will be remembered with love by her parents Joseph and Gary, her sister Jeannie of Maryland, and her many friends and business associates.
Andie received a B.A. from Wellesley College in Boston, Massachusetts, and an M.A. in Arabic Studies from American University in Cairo. Andie's education in Iran and Egypt led to her fluency in Farsi and Arabic and her interest in the Middle East, particularly her commitment to the Palestinian cause.
Andie joined Oilweek as a staff writer in September 1997, bringing with her a flair for writing about people and a passion to tell the stories of those impacted by oil and gas developments, not only in western Canada but around the world.Andrea was compelled to bring forward the best the industry was doing-from Aboriginals along the northern B.C. coastline working to bring economic diversity to their ancestral lands to oil companies in the Sudan helping to bring medical aid to those displaced by civil strife-but she was equally quick to point out where industry could do better.
She was named associate editor of the magazine in September 1998, and along with former editor Gordon Jaremko helped rebuild Oilweek as Canada's oil and gas authority. She was particularly instrumental in rejuvenating the publication's coverage of international developments, and brought to Oilweek's readers stories about Canadian service and supply companies securing lucrative-although troublesome-contracts in the former Soviet Union, about initiatives to bring liquefied natural gas from the Middle East to Canada, and about the impacts coalbed methane drilling in southern British Columbia might have on pristine wilderness valleys just across the border in Montana.
But Andrea was about more than just her writing. She brought fresh new ideas to the magazine, and was keenly interested in ensuring Oilweek retained its place as Canada's pre-eminent oil and gas publication.
Even into her illness, Andrea had a hand in Oilweek's growth and evolution; that contribution will be missed.
Memorial donations in Andie's name may be made directly to Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) or to American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA).
