Brian Michael Long

April 14, 1942 – October 13, 2026

Brian Michael "Mickey" Long, 84, died peacefully at home in Longmont, Colorado, on October 13, 2026, with his wife of 58 years at his side. As career military and a veteran, he spent his life protecting and serving this country and the people in it, all of them, not only the ones who shared his perspective. Above all, he loved his family deeply, and he was incredibly proud of them.

Brian was born on April 14, 1942, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to Michael and Avis Long. He grew up playing with his younger sister, Mary, in an Irish Catholic family. From a young age, his family's values and his Catholic education gave him a strong sense of morality and social justice, which became his guiding compass. Brian was a lifelong Red Sox fan who lived to see them finally win the World Series in 2004.

He dreamed of being a pilot from the time he was a boy, and at Boston University he joined Air Force ROTC. After he was commissioned 1965, he began a lifelong career with the US Air Force and DIA, including two tours in the Vietnam War, multiple moves to RAF Alconbury in England, and assignments in Sarajevo, Bosnia, and Kabul, Afghanistan.

England held a special place in the family's heart. During his tours at RAF Alconbury, where Sarah was born, Brian and Patricia chose to live in the village of Ramsey and send their daughters to English schools so the family would be part of the community. Sarah and Adrienne will never forget days on the flight line watching the Aggressor Squadron take off, or the rowdy, fun-loving fighter pilots who filled their home, along with Brian's legendary "jungle juice." The friendships from those years lasted the rest of his life.

He retired from the Air Force in 1988 as a Major. He then spent another 24 years serving this nation as a civilian with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), working largely out of sight in the clandestine side of intelligence. He cared little for recognition. What mattered to him were the people who worked with him, and he saw protecting them in the field as his duty. He had a deep respect for true public servants, the people who sacrifice so much for their country and for their fellow citizens of the world. Colleagues still speak of Brian’s dry wit that kept the intelligence community entertained for decades, and it is as much a part of his legacy as his work. He retired in 2012 after 48 years of service.

Brian met Patricia (Pat) at DIA in Washington, D.C., in July 1968. She was an intelligence analyst, and he had just returned from Vietnam. Falling in love instantaneously, they married the following March. He respected her enormously and often proclaimed that she was much smarter than him. When he retired from DIA, he wrote that if he had served his country well, it was in great part because of Pat and their daughters.

He was incredibly smart, with a wicked sense of humor, and he never said no to a glass of Irish Single Malt, especially with friends. He was fiercely loyal to the people he loved. He could be stern, didn't flinch from hard things, and spoke truth to power his whole life. But he was also tender deep down. He rescued orphaned cats, delighted in flying kites with his daughters, nieces, and nephews at Ridgevale Beach in Cape Cod, and the family pups, Marley, Maverick, and Tia, knew him as a reliable source of graham crackers. His love of music permeated throughout the family home, from jazz and classical to Frank Zappa and everything in between.

Though his work often kept him away for long stretches, his daughters always knew they were loved. He gave them the chance to see the world and understand other perspectives, and he supported them in becoming who they wanted to be, whether that meant Sarah moving to Jackson Hole to be a ski bum and wildland firefighter or Adrienne spending seven years in Durango collecting degrees. In his later years, he was especially proud that both had built careers helping others, including veterans: Sarah as a psychologist, and Adrienne as a nurse and then a psychiatric nurse practitioner. In 2015, he and Pat moved to Longmont to be close to them and their families.

On his last day, Patricia sat with him at home, telling him stories and reading him emails from his friends and colleagues. Sarah and Adrienne had been with him the day, and weeks, before. It was peaceful, and full of love.

Larger than life and truly one of a kind, Brian will be deeply missed by all who knew him, and most of all by his family.

Brian is survived by his wife, Patricia Anne Long; his daughters, Sarah Elizabeth Long (Trip Whittenburg) and Adrienne Alexandra Long (Jack Love); and his sister, Mary Aumueller, and her children, Katie (Charlie) Nunes, Michael (Sharon) Aumueller, Brian Aumueller (Ren Vasey), and Annie Aumueller (Chris Pennisi). He was predeceased by his parents, Michael and Avis Long.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Longmont.

He will be laid to rest with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to:

Little Sisters of the Poor

1900 Mark Ave, Gallup, NM, 87301

https://littlesistersofthepoorgallup.org/