Andrea Brehmer de Trzaskos, 54, passed away at her home in Stockbridge, VT, on Tuesday evening, Sept. 30, 2025. Andrea was independent, fiercely intelligent, a sharp analyst and adept problem solver, curious, witty, creative, and kind with a radiant smile.
Andrea was born in Waimea, Kauai, Hawaii, on Feb. 2, 1971, to Margaret Enking and the late Gale Brehmer, who worked for NASA’s tracking station during the Apollo missions and then at the celestial observatory at Mauna Kea. In 1978, they moved to La Serena, Chile, for Gale’s work at the new observatory at Cerro Tololo. Andrea’s formidable intellect was apparent early on and grew quickly among some of the world’s foremost resident and visiting astronomers, as neighbors. She learned to ride horses in the Chilean desert and became a lifelong lover of all animals. With Hawaiian Pidgin as her first language and Spanish as her second, Andrea began her primarily English learning during her middle and high school years in Meridian, ID, supplementing her studies with university courses. She chose to attend Wellesley College, where she could also take classes at MIT, and graduated with a BA in Economics. She met her future husband, Todd Trzaskos, while training martial arts at Shobu Aikido of Boston.
Andrea moved to Vermont, where Todd resided, the week before Labor Day 1994. They were married a year later. Andrea’s first work in the area was in retail at the Woodstock Farmers Market, and she soon after became the international sales manager at Wild Apple Graphics. She then completed the Vermont Master Gardener program and returned to the WFM to build out their garden center while also running her own business tending fine gardens around Woodstock. She was one of the first women to join the Woodstock Volunteer Fire Department, where she served as Auxiliary treasurer. She devoured books of all kinds and completed a three-year Certified Financial Planner course in nine months with a 94-point average. Andrea worked for Bill Lewis’ law office, doing trust and estates for several years, and professionally offered private financial administrative support services. During the COVID pandemic, she answered the call at the Woodstock Farmers Market once again to take on a key bookkeeping role.
For over 15 years, Andrea also dedicated herself to discovering and developing her talents as a self-taught ceramic artist, creating pieces inspired by her appreciation of nature and bird observation. Recognized as FrogSongDesigns, she and her innovative work appeared at Woodstock’s markets on the green, the Norwich Farmers Market, Vermont craft shows in Weston and Burlington, as well as regionally around New England. She was a member of the Vermont Crafts Council and served on the Council’s board of directors, and she was also a managing member of The Collective gallery in Woodstock.
Diagnosed with metastatic ovarian cancer in the spring of 2022, Andrea endeavored not to battle the disease, but to focus on supporting her own health, which she did until she elected to end lines of treatment after an ischemic stroke in July. She is survived at home by those she held closest, her husband Todd, two dogs, two cats, and two donkeys.
Her mother resides in Windsor, VT, and her adoptive sister, Polyana Brehmer, and stepmother Ana Maria Olivares Rodriquez reside in Chile. A memorial gathering and show of her art will be planned for the spring of 2026. Donations in her name are welcomed at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science https://vinsweb.org/donate/ and the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at Mass General Hospital https://www.massgeneral.org/cancer-center/clinical-trials-and-research/termeer-center
An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.
