Laurier mourns the passing of Andres Diaz

May 19, 2022

Wilfrid Laurier University is saddened by the passing of Andres Diaz, director of Enterprise Solutions and the Project Management Office in the Department of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). Andres passed away on Monday, May 16, 2022, at the age of 59 at Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital in Toronto.

Andres joined Laurier in March 2013, first as a senior project lead for the ICT Renewal Project Office, before becoming a manager, and the director of both the Project Management Office and the Enterprise Solutions team. In these various roles, Andres’ contributions to the Laurier community were wide-reaching, including bringing in SAFEHawk and its implementation of COVID-19 self-assessment functionality, the disaster recovery plan and exercises, decommissioning of legacy.wlu.ca, the migration from Groupwise email to Outlook, Microsoft licensing, and the transition to Microsoft Teams during the pandemic.

Andres’ life was filled with travel, family, food, and his love of cycling. He was an avid reader, music and film lover, had a passion for horseback riding and was a sailing aficionado who spoke three languages fluently.

Born in Cuba on September 19, 1962, Andres left the country to attend university in Belarus where he met his loving wife, Marina Papkovich. Their journeys together eventually brought them to Canada, where Andres and Marina raised their two sons Andrew and Alex.

Co-workers remember how Andres was always positive, welcoming, and warm, often asking “How’s the good life?” when seeing a familiar face. He would often share about his weekends cycling along the waterfront in Toronto, of an enjoyable meal he had, his love of Canuck pale ale and how proud he was of his children. Andres always had stories to tell about his life in Cuba and his experiences living abroad; he felt that life should be enjoyed and lived to the fullest.

Andres will be missed by members of the Laurier community. The university will fly its campus flags at half-mast in his honour. Details about a memorial service will be shared when they become available.