Support Andrew Hough's Family After Tragic Loss

Support for Andrew Hough’s family after a tragic loss. Andy, a marine, graduate of Texas A&M University, loving father and husband, and devoted friend to many, will be laid to rest at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery, in Dallas, Texas on August 16, 2024.

My father lost his life in a tragic car accident, leaving behind three children and my mother. She is struggling to pay bills, manage extensive household repairs and fund her own cancer treatment costs not covered by insurance -- all while suffering grief as well as PTSD symptoms.

We have set the goal of $25,000.

My mother's life is the priority here. My father’s unexpected death came as we were already financially stressed. My father had recently lost his job as a software engineer, a technical career he started during his service in the United States Marine Corps as a Corp Radio Field Operator during Desert Storm. But to make ends meet, he began driving trucks after a long job search during the Covid pandemic.

Then a house-flipper who bought a neighbor’s home destroyed the back of our yard and our sewer line—leaving us with no plumbing for weeks, expensive repairs and a disgusting mess. Based on advice from friends and neighbors, we tried to sue to have the house-flipper repair the damage, but our attorney quit when we ran out of money, leaving us without representation or compensation. And while this was going on, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, terrifying us all and creating more bills to cover. Through all of it, my father remained optimistic and hopeful as a beacon for the rest of us.

And then the world fell out from under us. When the state troopers came that afternoon to tell us our father had been taken from us, my mother collapsed. Dad had just been here, laughing, joking, and giving us strength. Our rock, our center, our heart... was gone.

As I stood there in my own shock and grief, I only thought of my mother -- She had been through so much in life. It’s been explained to us that strong smells conjure visceral memories of traumatic events and can be especially triggering for PTSD victims. As a child, my mother was traumatized when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia in 1975. Her family suffered four years of hell, then two years of purgatory in a refugee camp before being sponsored to come to America in 1981. The stories my mother has reluctantly shared are horrifying, haunting, and unimaginable. The graphic details are too violent to mention here, but to summarize, she was put to work as a child, saw family die and witnessed neighbors in her village being executed. The tormentors destroyed plumbing and modern conveniences to humiliate them and quash resistance. It was these memories that came flooding back to her as we had to endure the smell and humiliation of cleaning up raw sewage from the back yard.

My mother has survived a lot, but the financial burden has become too much. So we humbly ask you to please give what you can. Any contribution of $50, $25 or even $5 would be a blessing to our family.

Help honor my hero father's memory by helping my mother take care of herself during cancer treatment and bridge the gap until she can move from part-time to full-time nursing work as she recovers.

Thank you so much.