He is survived by his son Gavin, daughter Siobhan, beloved grandchildren Dylan, Olivia and Brian, and his sons-in-law Erik Johnke and Albert Joseph Buckley. He is also survived by his many nephews, nieces, family and friends. He said that his wife Joanne and son Colin, who died before him, would be rejoining him in spirit.
Brian was born August 30, 1925 at Baldwin, Long Island, New York. He lived there until he left at the age of 17 to serve in the U.S. Navy in the summer of 1943. During World II, Brian was a Navy radioman in the Pacific, serving on the destroyer USS Aulick (DD569). He survived untouched during a double-Kamikaze suicide attack on the Aulick off the Philippines that killed more than 30 and wounded more than 60 of his shipmates. He earned four battle stars for naval action during World War II.
When he came home from the war, he met his future wife, Joanne Patricia McLoughlin, while they were at Hofstra College. They were married in 1950 and were married for 69 beautiful years. He was hired in 1950 by Grumman Aircraft Engineering Company and retired 40 years later, as director of public affairs and finally as director of public affairs in Florida.
Brian’s father, Patrick, and mom, Lily, "were immigrants from Scotland who taught us to love God and their country, befriend the poor, and speak out against unfairness," he said. Brian did that in many letters to the editor as well as speaking up throughout his life for the rights of those most vulnerable. In the intervening years, Brian and Joanne travelled many roads together, not without their challenges, victories, happy times, and disappointments. They lost their son Colin to colon cancer in 2017; Joanne died in hospice care in 2019.
Brian and Joanne were a model of compassion and love, teaching those around them what it is to be committed to loving another by caring for their son Colin, who was Brian’s “favorite sidekick.”
Brian wrote that he and Joanne “had their greatest pride in their children, Colin (who was brain-impaired at birth), Gavin (Albert J. Buckley) and Siobhan Masterson (Erik Johnke), and in their beloved grandchildren, Dylan Patrick, Olivia Grace Masterson and Brian Gabriel who all are very special and dearly loved, as are Brian’s many nieces and nephews, here and abroad.”
His siblings, Theo, killed in action in Italy as a sergeant with the U.S. Army’s 85th Custer Infantry Division in 1944, John (Dorothy) and James (Sue), both Army officers and WWII combat veterans as well, and his sisters, Patricia and Kathleen, all departed before him.
His body will be cremated. There will be a visiting hour at 3 pm followed by a service at 4 pm (in person and by zoom) on Saturday October 9, 2021 at the Leo Gallagher Funeral Home in Stamford, CT.
We will all miss him terribly and are grateful for his deep and abiding love, quick wit, ready wink, and his compassionate and loyal friendship.
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