Donald Daugherty Brennan

Donald Daugherty Brennan, age 87, passed away quietly on August 20, 2015 at his home in North Perry, Ohio with his loving wife Carol by his side. He was the son of Francis Lee Robbins and Carrie Mae Daugherty, born on June 11, 1928 in Benwood, WV. His parents divorced in 1929. In 1933, Carrie Mae married Edward R. Brennan who adopted Donald. He was predeceased by his Grandparents, Charles and Emma Daugherty, his parents, his Stepfather, his half-brother Richard D. Brennan, and his first wife of 45 years, Patricia Jeanne Beller Brennan, whom he met on a blind date in 1951 in Cleveland, OH. Don had previous residences in Stafford, VA, Petaluma, CA; Falls Church, VA; Saipan, CNMI; Alexandria, VA; Cherry Point, NC; Camp Lejeune, NC; and Benwood, WV. He is survived by his second wife Carol (Luck) Brennan of North Perry, OH whom he married in 2004; sons Dennis and his wife Trudy of Wake Forest, NC; Douglas of Saipan, CNMI; David and his wife Susan of Castle Pines, CO; daughter Debra of Annandale, VA; grandchildren Jamie Brennan and her husband Donnie Staggs, Jr., and Heather Brist all of Quincy, MA; Dexter Brennan and his wife Hitomi, Daryl and Donovan Brennan all of Saipan; Caroline Johnston and her husband Adam of Littleton, CO, and Hannah Brennan of Aurora, CO. He has numerous nieces and nephews, as well numerous very loving stepchildren and step grandchildren from Carol’s family. Caroline and Adam presented Don with his first great grandchild, Michael David Johnston in March 2013 and presented him with his second great grandson, William Thomas Johnston in June 2015. Growing up during the depression, Don learned to be frugal and fend for himself. He lived his early life with his Mother and Grandparents in Benwood, WV. He learned to hunt and fish as a means of providing food for the table, and both turned into lifelong passions. He also learned to garden, which also stayed with him as he loved to grow and propagate Azalea’s. At Euclid (OH) Senior High school (class of ’46) Don took up boxing. He was very good. He was a Golden Gloves runner up in 1946 and continued with boxing when he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1947. He went “sea-going” on the USS Huntington as part of the Marine Guard detachment in 1948 and made exotic port calls in Italy, Morocco, and Spain. He served in Korea towards the end of the conflict; was stationed on the Pacific island of Saipan in the late 50’s – interesting note, while on Saipan both Don and Pat were in the CIA; he served in Vietnam in ’65-66 where he received a field promotion to Warrant Officer. In 1968 Don retired from the Marine Corps as a Warrant Officer I after serving as Assistant Provost Marshall at Marine Corps Base Quantico (VA). During his Marine Corps career, he was involved in military intelligence, military police, and as an instructor at the FBI Academy at Quantico. Don had a second career with First Virginia Bancshares Corp (FVB, now BB&T), in Falls Church, VA, starting as a Manager Trainee and retiring as head of Facilities and Security in 1989. He oversaw the construction and was responsible for the two FVB headquarters high rise buildings in Seven Corners, VA. At FVB Don made many friends that he stayed in touch with quite often, many of whom were onboard his surprise 80th birthday party luncheon cruise with over 120 family, neighbors, and friends on the Potomac River boat Dandy out of Alexandria, VA in 2008. Many of these same people were frequent guests at the “cabin in the mountains” that Don and Pat owned from 1974 - 1994. It was a 150 year old log cabin on 55 acres that they restored from top to bottom. Fun was never far away with a pond to fish in and woods to hunt in. After retiring from FVB, Don and Pat moved to Petaluma, CA in 1990 at the request of Nan McEvoy, at the time, Chairwoman of the Board of the San Francisco Chronicle. Don oversaw the conversion of 550 acres of cattle ranch land to realize her dream of creating an olive oil ranch. Don had his hands full as he worked to clear the ponds, prepare fields for planting, coordinated testing and applications for growing olives and planted the first 1,000 olive tree seedlings that now number over 30,000 trees and produce some of the best premium extra virgin olive oil in the world, McEvoy Ranch Olive Oil. An avid hunter and fisherman all his life, he taught the skills of nature to all his children and grandchildren. His annual trips to Canada were shared with Pat, then Carol, and his progeny guests and numerous friends. He preached and taught gun safety to all his children and grandchildren, demonstrating and coaching them all on the proper firing positions for rifles, shotguns, and pistols. Hunting with his children and trips to Quantico during deer season usually began at “0 dark 30” with thermoses full of hot chocolate, bag lunches, and a special stop at the Krispy Kreme bakery in Bailey’s Crossroads, VA for hot donuts. When his grandsons had the opportunity to come to the states they planned hunting trips that resulted in some great “racks” being collected. On the fishing front, Don thoroughly enjoyed baiting hooks for his granddaughters and then watching with a smile when they pulled in a “big one”! Don started collecting sea-shells on Saipan, a passion his son Douglas still has, and his collection grew into one of the largest privately held sea-shell collections in the world. He was former president of the National Capitol Shell Club and could recite the Latin name for almost any sea-shell in his extensive collection. He also loved to collect fishing rods and reels that he cleaned up, combined, and even used during his numerous fishing trips. He was able to donate over 300 fishing rods, reels, and 50 some tackle boxes to an organization in Louisburg, NC to support an annual fishing derby for youth and Wounded Warriors. Don and Carol loved to travel and seemed to always have a trip planned somewhere. Whether it was another fishing trip to Halley’s Camp in Canada, or going out for perch and walleye on Lake Erie, or to one of the many timeshares Carol owned, or to go gamble in Las Vegas or Atlantic City, or just play bingo, they didn’t sit still. They loved being together with friends and family to watch Redskins games, or being outdoors with the many planting projects they started around their homes. Don was a loving and supportive husband to both Pat and Carol; a great father and life-long example of excellence to his children and step-children; a proud grandfather; and blessed to have held both of his great grandsons. He was our Friend, our Teacher, our Mentor, and will always be our Hero. His family saying “All our love, All our lives” is what we will hold in our hearts; and we’d all like to think Don’s just “Gone Fishin’!” A Celebration of Don’s life will be held from 2-4 pm on Saturday August 29, 2015 at Brunner Sanden Deitrick Funeral Home & Cremation Center, 8466 Mentor Ave. Mentor, OH. 44060. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. Condolence expressions are requested to be directed to the Wounded Warriors Project, www.woundedwarriorproject.org/donate in the memory of Donald D. Brennan, WO1, USMC, retired. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery.

Donald Daugherty Brennan

June 11, 1928 - August 20, 2015