Andrea Rene “Andi” Wickham of Cuero, formerly of Port Aransas, died Saturday, April 9, 2011, after a short, but difficult bout with cancer. She was 53.

She was born on June 21, 1957 in Greenfield, Ind. Besides her devotion to family, her greatest passion was animals. She was a lover and caregiver of any animal in need. During her childhood, Wickham took in orphaned animals such as deer (Belvedere and others), ferrets, vultures (Igor and others), owls, hawks, raccoons (Honky and others), and birds, along with many dogs and cats. Wherever Wickham went, her animal friends were close behind.

She spent many years working at The University of Texas Marine Science Institute in Port Aransas with oceanographer Tony Amos and assisted him on numerous National Science Foundation and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration research trips to Antarctica. She worked tirelessly at the Animal Rehabilitation Keep (ARK) in Port Aransas, caring for injured animals from dolphins to shore birds to sea turtles. She spent many nights looking after stranded dolphins and countless hours nursing them b ack to health. Her greatest joy was in releasing them, as well as all recovered animals at the ARK, back to their natural environment.

Surviors are her parents, RO and Barbara Thomas Wickham of Cuero; two brothers, Drake Wickham of Cuero and Matt (Gay) Wickham of Victoria; her sister, Kris (Jim) Fowler of Corpus Christi; nieces Adrienne Potter (Scott) Gasiorowski of Corpus Christi, Sara Potter (Sean) Miller of Corpus Christi, Kate Wickham and Anna Grace Wickham, nephew Will Wickham of Victoria and great-nephew James Patrick Gasoprpwslo of Corpus Christi. She also leaves five adopted pets, Emma, Bella, Gus, “Puppy” and Dizzy.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, April 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Aransas Princess Conference Center, 720 Beach Access Road 1A.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the ARK, c/o UTMSI, 750 Channelview Drive, Port Aransas, TX 78373; Hospice of South Texas, 605 E. Locust, Victoria, Texas 77901; or a charity of choice.