Brian Robert Gomez

Brian ‘’Mr. Brian” Gomez, 45, passed away at his home on September 18, 2017. Brian was born on September 17, 1972 to Robert & Mary Gomez. A long time Placentia resident Brian had spent the last 23 years as a dedicated Lead Teacher for Orange Unified School District Cares program. Spending his most recent years at Orange Olive Elementary, Brian had a passion for teaching children. Every Halloween Mr. Brian, as his students would call him, made it his mission to create a haunted house for his students. He would start to plan in the middle of summer to make sure each years was scarier than the last. Besides teaching Brian had a deep love for the New York Yankees and baseball in general. It was a rare day when you wouldn’t see Brian wearing his Yankee hat. At the school Mr. Brian had Yankee flags up and would spend the time talking to the kids about Derek Jeter and their latest game. A man of routine, you were always able to find Brian on the weekends. Every Saturday he spent at Craftsman Wood Fired Pizza in Placentia sipping on his favorite IPA, watching MLB Network and ordering his food to go. On Sunday’s he went to Leadbelly’s Barbecue in Placentia where he had a permanent seat at the counter, a sign adorned with a beer and Gomez is on the glass. Brian would bring the book he was reading, sit in his seat, remove his watch and sunglasses and set them on the counter to the right of him. He would stay at each restaurant for hours talking to the staff about baseball, sharing stories, and sketching on the blank pages of his book. Brian is survived by his mother, father; sisters’ Diane Tine & Crystal Wilson; Brother-in-Laws Bruce Tine and Philip Wilson; his nieces and nephews; hundreds of students; and the rest of his family and friends. His service will be held at 10am on Sept. 30, 2017 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Placentia with burial immediately following at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange, CA. A reception to honor the life of Brian will be held at the Clifton C. Miller Community Center in Tustin, CA at 1:30pm Saturday. In lieu of flowers the family wishes to make donations to OUSD Cares, Brian Gomez in the memo line. There will be a donation box for OUSD Cares at the service Saturday or please mail your checks to Orange Unified School District Child Development Services - 2345 E. Palmyra, Orange, CA 92869