Colleen Casey's Tribute (Brian's Vigil)

A word we can use to describe Brian is wholehearted. He used his whole heart. He was passionate and involved.

For example, when Brian would encounter injustice – usually against someone else, not him – he would readily take initiative and join in. He was the master of the “strongly worded letter”. He wrote powerful, well-crafted letters to the mayor, to Yahoo, to Marlboro, and often achieved results. He championed water conservation right here in Hurst. For a while he was keeping a log of traffic violations that he witnessed. It’s true, the violators were all police officers, but Brian was proving a point.

Brian defended people wholeheartedly and gave them the benefit of the doubt. He cared about people. He was concerned for their welfare, and he helped both people he knew and complete strangers. He brought water to roofers, he carried groceries for elderly ladies, he fixed their TV’s and computers.

Whole-hearted also describes Brian’s sense of fun. He dove in, wholeheartedly, to good times with his friends, his family, his dog. So often I would come home and ask, where are Brian and Buddy?

• They’re at a superbowl party
• They’re camping at the river
• They’re at the Ranger game
• They’re at a pool party
• And I KNOW it was wholehearted, because they’d both come home and sleep for the next 24 hours!

Looking at the slideshow of Brian’s life tonight, it’s clear that Brian loved his family and his friends wholeheartedly. He had LIFELONG friends, and he touched a lot of lives. We’ll miss his enthusiasm and his readiness to have a good time. Brian brought people together with his whole heart. I hope he knows, with his whole heart, the depths of the love and understanding that all of us here have for him. Thank you so much for being with us tonight to celebrate Brian’s life and the impact he had on us all.