This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Tyler Makowicki, 29, passed on Jan. 1. He was a soul too innocent for this world. He had unlimited optimism in the face of tremendous obstacles. He loved his family, his sister Sarah, brother Evan, stepmother Gretchen, his Nana Jennie, his mother Kathy, his Grammy Edith, his Grampy John, and especially his father Tom; along with his aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Tyler was always the adventurer, hiking the Appalachian Trail a handful of times, going 60 miles through New York. He loved people, he loved to talk; he did this with a head full of anxiety, but a heart too big not to sit and hear what you had to say. The ultimate optimist, on Christmas he was looking forward to the new year, a year that he would turn thirty, a year that presented a new decade, one of change and a sense of new beginning.

Tyler would never see that new year, but he passed with the optimism that it brought. He now can live out that optimism in a place much more gentle than this world, in the arms of his loving papa, his cat Buddy, and his dog Otto.

Tyler always went out of his way thank someone who served our country, even crossing a parking lot to do so, going out of his way to give a handshake and a “Thank You.” With that in mind, in lieu of flowers, please donate to the Wounded Warriors Project in Tyler’s name at www.support.woundedwarriorproject.org. “Happy Trails”—Tyler. To share a memory of Tyler or send a condolence to his family, please visit www.rwwfh.com. Arrangements by the Robinson, Wright & Weymer Funeral Home in Centerbrook.