Alexander "Zander" Drude

Alexander Nicholas " Zander" Drude was called peacefully and suddenly to the Lord at the age of 31 on Easter Monday, April 10, 2023. Zander will be missed every day by his Father: Brian; Mother: Kristie; Brother: Abraham; and countless uncles, aunts, cousins, and loving friends.

Zander was born in Annapolis and raised in the Baltimore area, first in Pasadena, then Halethorpe, and later Severna Park. Zander was the most peaceful and joyous of children. Z was always a 98% or greater on the baby size charts growing up, with a heart size that was off the charts, he was a gentle giant his entire life.

Zander was known for his enormous heart and good works, his faith, his boundless love for all he knew, his resilience in some of the greatest adversities known to this world, his ever burning fighting spirit, and his limitless desire to help everyone. Zander lived for charity, it brought him his greatest joy to help others in need.

Z loved sports, everything about the sports. Zander loved to compete. Zander was an active member of several soccer clubs, baseball teams, and basketball teams his entire childhood; playing on multiple teams each year, always up for watching sports on the TV.  Zander was the middle of the pack athlete for most of his sports career except baseball. Baseball was his true passion, played it spring, summer and fall. Zander took his county team to the state championships while in high school as the primary pitcher and power hitter. As a pitcher, Z had serious speed and junk topped off with a wicked knuckleball that he used after he got the second strike on the batter. It was a great floater. Z , Abe, and I played catch every night after dinner in the backyard. Over time Abe was too afraid to play catch with him because of the power he had. I had to wear a cup and padded glove because of Z, eventually he wasn't allowed to throw the knuckleball at me because I had a really hard time catching it. I became a target. Many times I chased Z laughing through the backyards due to him beaming me with a knuckleball.

 
Zander and Abe would spend the days and weekends together growing up, exploring the neighborhoods, and playing sports and games. One would drop in on the other while they were in the middle of whatever mischief they had planned and join in, always supporting one another. Often we would all go out to share this joy with family and friends, whether it was paintball, softball, parties, get-togethers, or visiting the beaches and pools.

Zander was very interested in music his entire life. Z played the trumpet at an early age and boy were we glad when he stopped. Eventually he picked up guitar and became very enamored with it, his fingers were a blur on the frets.  Z was very talented, loving all kinds of music and had played at several bars on open mike night with his friend. Z's passion for music was typical for him. Everything Zander did and was involved with was a total immersion into it. Z was passionate about all he did.

Zander frequented many Roman Catholic Churches and was an active member of several Christian Fellowship Groups : The ChristLife Young Adults, Baltimore Basilica Young Adults, and partnered with The Source of all Hope Missionaries. The comradery and spirituality of the groups was very pleasant and refreshing for Zander.

 
Z had a great need to be with others and to help others.  Zander started his own ministry of helping the most needy of people. The BGJG, Big Ginger Jesus Generosity, was a ministry he started to help the destitute and he lived through this ministry to help others. Zander was someone who could walk up to anyone, in any state of life, and become their friend. He had an endless well of love and compassion for those around him and he gladly showed it, not just through words, but through actions. Zander operated on a different spiritual plane than most people, and was always looking to help others bear their crosses.

 
Zander was deeply committed to his education his whole life. Zander achieved straight A's from the fourth grade onward. As with everything Z undertook, his passion for learning drove him.  Z graduated from Severna Park High School as co-valedictorian.  Zander attended and graduated Magna Cum Laude from UMBC with a bachelor of science in Chemical Engineering and was currently working on his masters degree in Systems Engineering from the Johns Hopkins University.  Zander had been working at Northrop Grumman Corporation for the past 8 years with the last 6 years as a Systems engineer, and worked within the Bio detection arena. He was always pushing himself academically, going above and beyond in all of his interests. His most recent goal had been to translate the Greek Bible into English. He had been self learning the Greek language for the past several years in order to achieve this. He was a joy to be around.

Zander was the best a parent or little brother could ever ask for. His pleasantry, compassion, charity and peace was amazing to witness. He was a great big ball of golden loveable goofiness. Zander, his smile, his hugs and his love will be greatly missed.

A Memorial Mass will be celebrated on Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 10 AM at The Ascension Catholic Church in Arbutus, Maryland. Arrangements have been entrusted to Ambrose Funeral Home. Condolences can be left at Ambrosefuneralhomes.com. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to https://americasfirstcathedral.onlinegiving.org/donate/customform/1882#!/