Brian was a gentleman and a teacher. It was great to reconnect in the past 10 years as Brian brought his sense of humour and incredible Process Safety knowledge to the Sturgeon Refinery team. He helped us establish a strong focus on keeping people safe.

Brian, you will be missed by our industry and by us all

Ross Holuk

I have fond memories of Brian from my time at Syncrude in Fort McMurray and Calgary during the UE-1 Project. I took one of Brian's Process Safety courses and learned a lot in this field of his expertise, the most knowledgeable in the field that I have come across. It was always a pleasure running into Brian, always willing to share his knowledge to any who asked. He will be missed. My deepest sympathies and prayers to you Darlene, and Jason (who I worked with), Cheryl, David and Trevor and their families. It certainly sounds like he put family first.

Dear Darlene & Family:

My sincere sympathy to you and your family on the loss of Brian, husband, father, grandfather, uncle and friend.

Please know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

Rest in Peace, Brian.

Sincerely

Valerie Ann MacKenzie, Port Hawkesbury, NS

Tabea and I were deeply saddened to hear of Brian’s sudden passing. We can't imagine how hard this has been for you Darlene, and for Jason, Cheryl, David and Trevor, as well as your grandkids. We are grateful that we could participate in the LiveStream of Brian's funeral and appreciated Jason and Trevor sharing about their dad. Brian was one of my first leaders, and always a kind mentor and friend, as well as a great neighbour. We send you our heartfelt condolences and pray that your wonderful memories of Brian will help you all through this difficult time.

Brian, you have always been a friend, mentor, coach and a person of the utmost integrity. You are and will always be a special person in my life, from being a summer student on your team in Edmonton to the tank farm incident investigation where you facilitated one of the root cause analysis. Your guidance, wisdom and thoughtfulness will be missed.

Darlene, Jackie and I are so sorry for your loss. We both reminisced about the surprise 70th birthday party you pulled off for Brian, the things you did made us smile and his smile was absolutely contagious.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you all,

Doug & Jackie

People always ask how I even have a conversation with my patients with tools in their mouths, much less get to form relationships . I was Brian’s dental hygienist for aprox 15 years . I always looked forward to the day when I saw his name in my schedule . He was always the most genuine , kind hearted , smart man .. but also very very funny . I will never forget his love for Lee valley and his excuse to go there as it was close to our office .. even if he didn’t need anything . He even brought me catalogues to entice me to check it out myself . He loved his family with his whole heart and was so proud of all of his kids and grandkids . He joked about his credit card burning in his pocket because Darlene was shopping while he was getting his teeth cleaned… Waiting for her turn in the chair. But we all know he gave her the world, and he adored her more than anyone on this planet. I will miss our conversations about everything . He really hated how slow the constructing on the roads was in Canada compared to the US! He was the nicest man .. and whenever I asked if he had been flossing he would say “regularly .. for the past 2 weeks leading up to my appointment today ….but don’t tell Darlene” !! Rip!! You will be missed dearly

Darlene and family: We were saddened to hear of Brian's passing. He was a joy to talk to, whether in the Syncrude work environment or elsewhere. Humble, caring, intelligent, extremely knowledgeable, and we all knew we were in good hands when Brian was involved. Sincerely, Sharon and John Elliott (Chestermere).

Darlene and family,

My name is Jack McCavit. Brian was a good friend through CCPS and our process safety work. I think sometimes people have a hard time recognizing when a loved one is special and really good at what they do. Brian was an excellent teacher of process safety, one of the best in the world. He was special and what he did mattered.

Dear Darlene and family: I am

so very sorry for your loss of Brian. I am tearful as I write this. Brian was a great person and I will always remember him. He was a great person to work with, a great mentor and engineer. I will never forget you, Brian.

Rest in Peace

Darlene and all the Kelly family:

It was with profound sadness and loss that I received the sad news that Brian passed away. Brian was an exceptional person who excelled in all matters of life, education, marriage and family and a professional career. Brian and I were colleagues at Sarnia (IOL) and Syncrude ( SCL) and worked together with respect and yielding excellent results! Although Brian is no longer with us, he will be with us in our memories in perpetuity as an exceptional person! May Brian rest in peace! With respect Paul Tichinoff

Darlene & family

We are so sorry for your lose. Cherish all the great memories

Darrell & I remember all the good times we had in Fort McMurray

Hugs

Darrell & Jane Nichols

Brian was my boss, my mentor but more importantly a dear and trusted friend, I will miss our frequent telephone conversations and email exchanges on major incidents around the World. Our last conversation was a few days before his passing where we had a discussion on the suitability of carbon fibre on deep sea vessels following the Ocean Gate implosion, that sums up Brian, always thinking of how disasters could be prevented.

On a lighter note Brian was reluctant to part with possessions, I remember he was irritated that he could no longer buy paper for his dot matrix printer, undeterred he was experimenting with making his own with a three hole paper punch.

Rest in peace Brian.

Ron Rosser

Brian was one of the kindest, hardest working and fun engineers I ever worked for and with. He will be greatly missed. Our deepest condolences to Darlene and family.

Peter and Sue Hubbard

Brian was my manager for my first eight years after I joined Syncrude in the early 1980s. He was a great mentor and always had time for me and others who worked for him. During the last part of my career we both worked in the field of process safety and risk management. I admired how Brian became a world leader in the subject - he had tremendous energy and a passion for safe plant operations. I have one little story about how kind a man Brian was. I was working as a very young engineer on a plant shutdown (turnaround) and got a small piece of coke in my eye, easily flushed out with water. Brian somehow immediately learned of this and walked all the way across Upgrading to see if I was ok. He was a great man and will be greatly missed. Deepest condolences to Darlene and family.

Dearest Darlene, Jason, Cheryl, David & Trevor & your lovely families:

There truly are no words to convey how deeply sorry I am to hear about the loss of your wonderful husband & father. Brian was a cherished, loving & caring friend of mine for many years. The love & pride he had for all of you was immeasurable. I am thinking of you with love & deepest sympathy.

The world will never be the same without him in it. Fly with the angels my wonderful friend. Please give my beautiful husband a huge hug from me.

Love Sharleen

Darlene and family, so sorry to hear of Brian’s passing. Brian always had the best stories to tell at our team meetings. He will be missed by everyone that knew him.

I remember waiting by the front door as a young boy for my dad to come home from work and being so happy and excited to see him when he arrived. Later in life he became a close friend who I could always depend on for anything. He will be missed deeply.

We remember Brian from his stellar contribution to the Canadian Cancer Society in Fort McMurray - as as a collegue in the oil sands industry.

Helen and Ed Pacholko

Darlene, Cheryl, Jason, David and Trevor: I am sad to hear of Brian's passing. he is a caring person and so friendly to all of us who had the privilege of knowing him – the kind of person who is truly a friend to all who know him. Know that you are in my prayers at this time. May God bless and comfort you.

Although my heart breaks at losing you, your memory will always bring a smile. Looking back at more than 50 years of friendship I remember all the times I kept you company while Darlene got ready for a date; the joy of watching your beautiful family grow; listening to your stories; enjoying one of your perfectly cooked steaks and a bottle of good red! Of course the best will always be remembering the great love you showed my sister-friend Darlene. Your life has been a blessing to many.

Pat Lyster, Abernethy, SK