Andrés Miguel Colón, age 21, of Lebanon, OH, passed away on Monday, June 9, 2025, at his residence in Bowling Green, OH. Born on August 12, 2003, in Kalamazoo, MI, to Angel and Naomi Colón. Preceded in death by his maternal and paternal grandparents, Cristobal and Nilda Colón and Larry and Barbara Ritchie and his aunts, Livia Colón and Leanna Apuzzo. He is survived by his parents, Angel and Naomi (Nee: Ritchie) Colón, his two sisters, Alexis and Alyssa Colón, and his aunts and uncles, Marlin Ritchie, David Apuzzo, Ivan and Carmen Colón, and Carlos Colón as well as his cousins and friends.
When he was three years old, Andrés moved to the “Cindy-Ati” area (as he called Cincinnati at the time). He attended Lebanon Christian School and Dayton Christian School, then went on to hone his artistic talents at the Cincinnati School for Creative and Performing Arts. After graduating high school, he attended Bowling Green State University where he studied psychology, graphic design and Spanish.
Andrés was a steadfast and uncompromising storyteller—an artist, author, photographer, illustrator and graphic designer. No matter the medium, Andrés’s artistic practice was a “process of collaging–collecting scraps of life and building a landscape that exists beyond the physical.” He published two poetry books, Anatomy Of and The Matador’s Wife, and received many Scholastic Art Awards for his poetry and graphic artworks. He was passionate about music and used his graphic design skills to create album art for both established and up-and-coming musicians, as well as illustrations and designs for written publications.
When he was not busily at work on his next project, Andrés loved spending lazy evenings at home cuddling with his cat Tofu, watching cartoons with loved ones, playing the guitar, cooking international dishes, or reading a book (He read an average of 100 books per year). He loved going to concerts with friends, earning a black belt in karate, teasing his family’s dog LuLu, and admiring local flowers (in spite of his frustrating seasonal allergies). In both his work and personal life, Andrés sought to gently nurture the beauty around him, and to inspire social change through his courage and strength of spirit. In his own words:
Words I keep in my left boot
(on long walks)
#9
The deer will see the roadway planted in his forest
and think that it’s new soil
and that the vehicle is a wild bar.
The deer will greet it face to face
And meet its fate.
But the grass will overcome the sidewalk
as nature is ancient
and knows to come home.
The grass will swallow up the tiles of concrete
and they become its teeth.
Visitation: Saturday, June 21, 2025 from 9:00 AM-11:00 AM with a memorial service at 11:00 AM, all at the Countryside Church of the Nazarene. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to K12 Gallery & TEJAS at 341 South Jefferson Street, Dayton, Ohio 45402, or go to the website at Www.k12tejasgallery.org, GIVE, and add Andres Colon name. Arrangements by the Oswald-Hoskins Funeral Home, Lebanon.
