Andrew Bentham Batten, 56, passed away peacefully, and much too soon, at the Dorothy Ley Hospice on March 21, 2019, after an almost 5-year courageous fight with a rare form of neuroendocrine cancer. Andrew leaves behind his wife, Debbie Batten, who was the love of his life and his muse, who will miss him with every breath that she takes. Andrew also leaves behind many whom he adored, including his brother Mark (Stephanie Hedley-Smith) and his sister Alicia (Terry Rothwell), his nephews Wilson and Isaac, his sisters-in-law Wendy Nember (Roberto), Valerie Smith, Victoria Hughes (John) and brother-in-law Michael Smith, and two furry kids, T-Bone and Marty, and friends far too numerous to list. He was predeceased by his mother Aileen Batten and his father Richard Batten. Andrew was born in Peterborough on February 16, 1963, and attended Queen Mary Public School, then PCVS. He attended Bishop’s University, Quebec, for his Bachelor of Arts with Honours and later attended the University of Ottawa for his Baccalaureate of Laws.
Although Andrew studied and practised law for several years, he found his true calling as a high school teacher, after receiving his Bachelor of Education at York University in 2002. He taught a wide variety of courses at Subway Academy, Ursula Franklin, The Student School and Etobicoke School of Arts. He was often approached by former students who told him how much he had changed their lives for the better. Andrew was the teacher you always wished you had. One former student recently wrote on Andrew’s Facebook page, “Andrew was that special kind of teacher who really, deeply cared. He inspired me enormously with his honesty and genuine passion in classes.”
Andrew’s other two passions were acting and writing plays. He was in numerous plays at the Alumnae Theatre and The Village Playhouse. In his last few years, he wrote and produced Or Not To Be and the Theory of Accelerated Hotness, Baby Talk and Professional Development. His most recent play, The Sad Blisters, is opening at the Commons Theatre in Toronto on April 12 to April 27. He was thrilled to learn recently that one of his earlier plays, Romeo and Rosaline, which was first produced in 1995 at the Tarragon Theatre, is going to be remounted at the Guelph Little Theatre in the spring of 2020. Andrew loved Shakespeare and he wrote this delicious, irreverent prequel of “Romeo and Juliet” using iambic pentameter. Andrew’s mind and imagination knew no limits. He could talk on any subject.
Andrew enjoyed a real zest for life and laughter. His hobbies were many and varied and included extensive reading, walking along the Humber River, gardening beside Debbie, watching The Raptors, The Blue Jays, and The Patriots, scuba diving, discussing politics, travelling, vacationing in sunny locales, discovering new beers, biking, touring wineries, cooking, enjoying good food, experimenting with his new Weber charcoal grill and entertaining their many friends in their backyard, both on High Park Avenue, and later on Althea. Andrew was generous to a fault, always finding spare change to give a person less fortunate. There will be a celebration of his life on May 19 at their home in Toronto.
Andrew’s passing at such a young age has left the world a darker place. If you had the honour and privilege of knowing this man, you would know that he would not want his family and friends to mourn him for too long – he would instead ask them to make sure they were their best selves – read more, travel more, be kind to each other, and enjoy this amazing world in which we live; and, above all, keep telling your stories – Andrew was fond of saying that people listen when you tell them your stories.