Plano man teaching overseas killed on bike ride in Taiwan

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Plano resident Andrew Kuebrich was killed this week while riding his bike in Taiwan. | Submitted/Jan. 26, 2012

Updated: January 27, 2012 2:25AM

Friends of Plano resident Andrew Kuebrich are remembering him as someone who always brought laughter, who made friends all over the world, and who would literally go an extra mile — usually in his running shoes — to help those in need.

“Everyone’s just devastated,” said Kuebrich’s mother, Jill. “He was only 24-years-old, and really the light of everyone’s life... He loved to laugh and loved to make people laugh. And there’s just been this outpouring of support.”

Kuebrich died Wednesday, after being hit by a truck while bicyling in Taiwan, where he had been living and teaching.

“He had a couple weeks off for Chinese New Year, so he was doing a bike trip, from Taipei to the southern tip of Taiwan,” said Kuebrich’s brother Ben. “He was very active and very athletic, and always doing lots of long-distance endurance sports.”

This weekend, friends will gather at Plano High School, where he graduated in 2005, to run 10 miles in his honor.

Kuebrich was a long-distance runner who had completed several ultramarathons, including a 100-kilometer race in Singapore last August.

Family also told of his dedication to Relay for Life, a fundraising run supporting cancer research. “He was big supporter of Relay for Life. Both his grandmothers died of cancer,” his mother said.

The Kuebrich family is requesting that all donations be given to Relay for Life in Andrew’s memory. “This is something he cared about,” said Ben Kuebrich. “It was a cause he really believed in.”

Andrew had been teaching English in Asia for the past 18 months, first in Hong Kong, then in Taipei. He had planned to use his degree in international business from Monmouth College to open his own school, and had also been volunteering his time to help build a church in Taiwan.

“He was not going to have any regrets,” said Jill. “He was going to live life to the fullest, and that‘s what he did.”

Kuebrich’s family will hold a celebration of his life from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at United Methodist Church of Plano, 219 N. Hale St. A memorial will follow at 5 p.m.