I knew Drew from when he worked at CNSI. We became friends..  and then became more than friends. He and Elizabeth had broken up.. I was there to pick up the pieces and help him overcome his sadness. I don’t regret a single moment.  I do regret that I didn’t get to say goodbye.  He and I sang Beatle songs from Abbey Road in the alley behind Katz one night.. late into the night. I loved him and I believe in a small way, he loved me too. I consider him one of the great loves of my life because he so profoundly affected me. I spent his 21st birthday with him..  I still have a little note he wrote to me that says “You really look good today .”

Drew..  I love you still.. somehow I know you know this and will remember me with fondness..  I will see you on the other side to say hello again.

Sachi,  I am so very sorry for your loss, but I am happy you had him..  what a gift.

Jeanine Woodard

Drew,

I was going through some boxes last night and found a letter you wrote to me in Jr High, I got on the Internet today to look you up to see how you were doing, and I found out that your gone. I’m in total shock. I just wanted to say what a beautiful boy you were, heart and soul, beautiful, and from the stories from your friends and family, I can see you were a beautiful man. I so regret that I didn’t get in contact with you sooner. You are loved and missed. My condolences to all.

Love,
Terry

Dear Drew,

Our work relationship was a bit strained when you were nearing the end of your tenure at Sprint. You were a bit like a mad scientist that couldn’t be restrained. But, I always thought we would have a chance to resume our friendship sometime in the future. Your death has certainly taught me that there is no time like the present.

The other day I was skiing at Vail and someone sailed past me on a snowboard, catching air on the way. I imagined it was you. I tried to catch up, but of course I never did. I remembered back to a day several years ago when you joined me at Vail. You and another in our party promptly collided on the first run of the day. There was a fearlessness in your approach which was impressive and scary and I’m sorry that you never got another chance to come out and ski with me again.

Nobody would ever accuse you of being fashionable or corporate. I remember the first day you showed up at Sprint HQ after years of telecommuting. You got sent home by the corporate fashion police for wearing Teva’s with socks. You were pretty incredulous when you recounted the story…those were the best new sandals you had!

When we went out for lunch or dinner in Denver during the old E-Solutions days, I was always impressed by your sushi knowledge. To me, it was all just raw fish which I would happily gulp down to satisfy my hunger. To you, it was an intellectual and spiritual experience as well. You often rejected the strange and expensive things that you ordered. I pitied the wait staff but was much entertained.

I only met Sachi once when Raul and I had you guys over for lunch at our house in Denver. We had a lovely time and I wish we could have done that more often. Give our condolences to her, she is a lovely woman.

I’ll never forget you,
Carlson Peters

Best Friends Forever

I met Drew at Travis HS his Freshman year. He and I soon became close friends, and eventually the best of friends. His mother, Kerry, and he moved into The Austin HS district, and he and his mother talked my mother, Cheryl Petty, to move into the district as well. Some of my favorite memories are of the times that he and I shared together, and I thought of him as my brother and loved him just as much. We had a falling out with each other and lost contact. But, I never quit thinking of him as one of the greatest people I ever had the fortune to meet. Drew, I will always think of you in the best of ways and wish I could turn back time to correct our disagreement. But I will never forget you, and look forward to seeing you again when my time runs out, because I know you’ll be there to greet me with open arms and that famous, infectious smile you had.

Your friend forever, Christian Petty

Drew, you lived by your own rules and taught me how to enjoy life by way of your carefree nature. Your complex existence was a beautiful enigma. I will always remember you as one who loved without bounds and with unflinching loyalty. You were always true to yourself and your absence is a great loss to this world. I feel certain that you are riding your GSX-R in a land without squash, where every server is powered by Linux. Until we see each other again, keep on riding!

Drew was my closest friend. He lived his life with passion and was exceptional at doing the things he loved most. Drew delighted in his personal relationships and greeted his friends with hugs. He believed in honor, integrity, and openness. Goodbye, my friend — I will miss you dearly.

Words cannot begin to capture how important you were to me and so many other people. I feel like a part of me is gone. Unlike anyone else I’ve ever known, you were always there to help me, console me, guide me and advise me. I could come to you when times were good, bad, or anywhere in between, and you always knew what to say or do. You left all of us with so many memories, stories and good times, and we’re all better people for having crossed paths with you. I hope that somehow you are able to see how much we love and miss you.

I met Drew Lippolt in 1993. We worked together daily for four years. We built motorcycles and raced together. Drew brightened every day were together. We traveled long hours and talked about integrity, honesty and trust. We talked about relationships, how valuable they are and how much work they are. We talked about showing dignity and respect for others. We dreamed of special things and special places and planned for years ahead. We wanted to make one good run. I loved Drew Lippolt and will miss him very much.

As Drew’s father I was proud of his love and loyalty to family and friends. He was trusting and honest. Drew lived life to the fullest and experienced much more than 33 years. He lifted me up and confided in me his hopes and dreams, many of which were realized. He will still be there for me.

Drew loved Sachi more than anything on earth. A very close second was racing. The rest of us in various degrees came third. I believe Drew lived his life exactly as he wanted and did the things that thrilled him most. In other words, Drew LIVED. And he died valiantly. Not all of us can say the same.

i just heard about drew’s accident. i’m so sorry. my deepest sympathies to his mother, and the rest of his family and friends. i went to high school with drew and am proud to say that he was one of my good friends. unfortunately, we hadn’t spoken in awhile. we drifted apart over the years as many high school friends do, but we kept in touch via email. i joined him and some of his best friends for his bachelor party a couple of years ago .. disc golf in the park, a true renaissance man indeed. i could retell some stories from high school, but most of those stories should be left alone. suffice it to say that he played hard and lived life with an envious zeal. those of you who knew drew well will remember him in that light always, i know i will.

love,
jesse proctor

One thing I really liked about Drew was the way he signed off in letters and
emails… He’d say “Yours in the search for happiness,” or even YITSL… I
think that summed up part of his life philosophy. He also liked quoting
from M. Scott Peck’s book “The Road Less Travelled” which was very
influential in his worldview. We both absorbed Peck’s definition of “love”
as an act or decision, made to foster the emotional/spiritual/psychological
growth of another and prioritize it equally with your own.

He was a magnificent person and one I am truly proud to have known and
loved.

Gigi

Like so many, Drew touched my life in so many ways; I don’t even know where to begin to write a short story about our relationship. Drew and I met in 2000 while working at Sprint. We instantly took to each other. We had a common passion for technology. Over the years, we were in constant communication through IM. We continued to work on projects outside of Sprint, both for work, and for fun. We also used to have conversations in both person and on the phone. It was in these deep conversations, where something that Drew said to me started to stick. Whenever I was deep in thought, which was often when talking to Drew, and I would fall behind in the pace of the conversation and he would say, “use your words”. It became our ongoing joke. Drew and I even had a long conversation about family and children. Our daughter is 2 now and yes they call them the terrible 2’s for a reason. Whenever she gets frustrated and starts to throw a fit, I find myself in a calm voice, telling her to “use her words”. This simple statement has such a huge impact on her world. It reminds her to just calm down and ask for what she needs and we will gladly get it for her. These simple words have had such an impact on my life, just as Drew has had, that he will forever be remembered by our family as a good friend and colleague.

I don’t think any one has shaped the person that I am today as much as Drew did. I still have my Java 1.2 book from when he tried to get me to learn to program in 7th grade. It didn’t stick at the time but now I am about to get a CS degree.

Some of my favorite memories from high school are when I would come to visit Austin and stay with you. Drew always tried to treat me as his friend and peer instead of his little brother. He would always try to point me in the right direction but leave the journey up to me.

Drew always had faith in me, my abilities, and my intelligence. He never treated me like a kid, for better or worse, and always expected the most out of me. While this wasn’t always easy at the time it has helped.

It is so hard me to express how Drew has touched and shaped my life but I know that I am a better person because of Drew. And I am sure he will keep pointing me in the right direction as I continue on.

Drew. I cannot do justice to our 10+ year friendship in just a few lines, and with such a heavy heart - not when you have had such a defining impact on my life and made me want to be a better human being. Where do I even begin? You were always there for us when we needed you. Yet, you never seemed to leave home with your uplifting wit, your untiring energy and your truly inspiring spirit. You lent me your shoulder as I limped home from the hospital after twisting my knee, you drove me to Dallas for surgery, you helped me with my car when it broke down, you took us for doughnut runs at 3:00 am when we were doing assignments for Diane’s CS 310 class, you played your guitar with us as we tried to pass off noise as music, you went with us to parties, music shows, movies, bars, weddings, birthdays… How will I ever forget the uncanny ability you had to experience SO MUCH MORE in so many areas when most of us were merely scratching the surface? How will I ever forget the way you always spoke your mind, and were never afraid to speak up when the situation demanded it? How will I ever forget the way you used to leave your last bite on your plate, then patiently wait as I slowly worked my way through my food (boy, you ate fast!), and eat that last bite only after I had finished, so I would actually beat you to the end? Well, you beat me in this race, my friend. I know, in typical Drew fashion, you will have everything all figured out for us in Heaven when we finally catch up with you. I know we’ll find scores of happy campers there - better off because they too now know you… Adios, my dearest friend - we will now meet in the wonderful and plentiful memories you left me with…

I didn’t really sleep last night, kept awake thinking of Drew. I cannot believe that he is gone. I feel devastated, and cannot begin to imagine what Sachi is going through. It seems impossible to think that life will go back to being normal. I think it won’t.

I have so many great memories of Drew, but one of the most special was a little more than one month ago. It was the day our son was born.

I had been on the phone calling our closest friends and family, but I couldn’t reach Drew. He changed his mobile number so many times that I stopped updating my phone long ago, opting instead to look him up on my computer (emails, etc.) if I needed to call him. We were both always online anyway, so instant messenger or email was the usual means of communication. But I really wanted to tell him that we were parents, and didn’t have a way to do that from the hospital.

I don’t know if it was luck, coincidence, or something else, but Drew decided to call me that evening. He had good news to share: we had been threatening to get out to Iron Rock Raceway to race go-karts, and he had stumbled upon an opportunity to get an old kart that we could fix up and race. We talked about that a little bit, and then I said I had good news too: we were parents, and had a beautiful baby boy. He was so excited, and wanted to come see us, but didn’t think he could make it until after midnight. For anyone who knew Drew, you know he was not bound by practical things like time of day - if there was an opportunity in front of him, he would take it. It didn’t matter if it was the middle of the night.

He stopped at the store to pick up some food for us, and came that night to the hospital. He stayed with us until about 2 am. He was so happy to see our child, taking him into his arms immediately. It was as though he had been a parent 100 times before. Seeing Drew hold our son just seemed right, and it was simply wonderful. I feel so lucky to have been a part of it. Drew was one of the most important people in my life, and it means so much that he met our son on his first day of life.

It feels a bit unfair that my wife and I could have this awesome memory and keep it to ourselves, so for all of you out there who knew and loved Drew, I wanted to share.