Kelleys Island Ancestry

Obituary
Michael Hugh Brennan

Michael H. Brennan died on Sunday August 6, 2006 at Stein Hospice Care Center in Sandusky, Ohio after a ten month battle with esophageal cancer.

Born October 14th, 1937 in Cincinnati, Michael was the oldest child of William Wallace Brennan and Theda Lenore (Beck). The family moved to Akron in 1940 where Michael attended grade school and later graduated from St. Vincent High School in 1955. During high school he was an Eagle Scout and spent a short time after he turned 18 as a junior Scoutmaster and later was a Webelos Den Master in Norwalk, Ohio.

Michael was a member of the Scuba Club in 1959. He spent much of his free time with Brennan relatives and friends on Kelleys Island and after graduation moved to Sandusky, Ohio while working at Clevite, then relocated to Milan. During this time he was active in the local Theatre. He was granted the lead role in three different plays, one of which was "The Solid Gold Cadillac" where he met, and later married, Mary Ann (Walek).

Michael spent two years in the US Armed services stationed in Fort Knox, TN and after an honorable discharge in 1963, married in 1965. He and his family moved to Napoleon, Ohio where his two children, Theresa Marie and Michael Robert were born. He and his wife were members of the local Archery Club and later Michael enjoyed over twenty five years of annual fall trips to Michigan with friends and family for bow and arrow style deer hunting, though he never brought one home. Family vacations were almost always taken at Kelleys Island for camping and boating and visiting with friends.

Eventually, the family moved to and stayed on Catawba Island where Michael served as a volunteer fireman and EMT with the Catawba Island Volunteer Fire Department from 1980 through 1985. He retired from the GM Powertrain corporation of Michigan in 2003 where he worked as a Draftsman and Designer and continued to enjoy fishing, boating, swimming, writing and spending his winters in Key Largo, Florida until shortly before his death.

He is survived by Mary Ann Brennan; son, Michael R. Brennan of Mansfield, Ohio; daughter, Theresa Benson of Sandusky, Ohio and his two grand-daughters, Kendra and Tebryn McCleary; two brothers, Thomas Brennan of Port Huron, Michigan and William Brennan of Munroe Falls, Ohio; and many nieces, nephews and cousins.

Visitation will be 2-3pm Friday at Gerner-Wolf-Walker Funeral Home, Port Clinton, followed by a memorial service at 3pm.

Contributions may be made in his name to Stein Hospice, 1200 Sycamore Line, Sandusky Ohio 44870

Condolences may be shared with the family at www.walker-funeralhomes.com

My father, the poet.

Scatterings

The dull gray stain spread slowly in the gently surging water as if the particles of ash were reluctant to be separated. Gradually though, the lake's blue water did it's work, gently surrounding and enfolding each mote of powder until the merger was complete; the small package of ash indistinguishable from the body of water in which it was borne. Three flowers floated on the waves marking the place but my friend was gone - now in my memories and in the hand of his Creator.

To the physical senses, what was but shortly before a living, breathing, thinking man in the end, became little more than a short lived greasy stain in the water that quietly dissipated to nought. Was there an answer to his dreams and doubts, some of which I shared. Was there value to his living? In fifty years will there be any who remember his existance? And if I think these things of him, do I not say them of myself, of all who ever lived or will?

The purpose of life cannot be this lifetime. It's too fleeting, too inconsequential.

Michael Hugh Brennan

My father, the poet.

Oct 27, 1993

As we grow older, and old friends die, we are reminded of our own mortality and tend to overlook the immortality of the spirit. We dwell upon our own loss; family, friend or aquaintance. We regret, perhaps, a lost opportunity to make amends, to say goodbye, to say I love you.

I believe we leave this life only after our self-appointed tasks are, for good or ill, concluded.

I believe that All There Is, the Creator, presented us with our eternal existance so that we might come to learn perfect love in a total union of wills with It.

I believe, given the nature of my life and that of my departure, that I have not yet perfected my learning, though I do grasp its significance.

I believe there will be additional opportunities, to build on the gains made in this lifetime, and to correct the many errors.

I believe, in the timelessness outside the physical universe, I shall see you all again, and, reflecting on these lessons shared, we shall perhaps, decide together on another joint learning experience.

-Michael Hugh Brennan