Brian Francis O’Neil, age 72, died peacefully in his home on the morning of Sunday, Sept. 20 alongside his beloved wife Myrna Blancia O’Neil after a long battle with gastric cancer. He leaves behind five sons – Galen, Jhomer, Dustin, Shane, and Anthony – and two grandchildren – Clara and Jasper. Brian has always felt most at home in the forests of the West Coast and he chose to live out his final months on the tree farm that he’s cultivated for more than 40 years.
Brian was born on July 20, 1948 on Whidbey Island in Washington State as the second-oldest son of ten brothers and sisters. His father, James F. O’Neil, was a Navy Officer and pilot, so the family lived in Florida, Ohio, Maryland, and Rhode Island as Brian was growing up. Brian attended John Carroll University and majored in economics with a minor in history – he remained a passionate historian until he died. In his early twenties, Brian registered as a conscientious objector to the war in Vietnam, choosing domestic service in hospitals in Miami and Cleveland. He also traveled the world – Europe, the Middle East and Asia – for two years, including spending nine months with the Dalai Lama. Reflecting on his life, Brian remembered: “I always wanted to return to the West, where I was born.”
In the early 1970s, Brian traveled with friends in a milk truck across the country to Oregon. When he came through the McKenzie Pass, he was struck by the natural beauty of the forest and decided to put down roots. At home in Oregon, Brian had many careers: planting trees and fighting fires for the Forest Service, working as a registered nurse in Cottage Grove, and driving a school bus for the South Lane School District for nearly two decades. However, his true passion was responsible forestry management.
Spanning all of those years, he spent evenings and weekends tirelessly tending to his 50 acre tree farm on Overholser Road, where he spent his final days. Reflecting on the coming end of his life, Brian looked to an ancient Buddhist teaching: “If you haven’t contemplated your death before noon, you’ve wasted a day,” he said.
Brian came from a large Irish Catholic family, and worshipped locally at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Cottage Grove. A memorial service will be held there at 11 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 2 for friends and family, though many will attend virtually due to the pandemic. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family requests donations to the wildfire fight effort in Oregon right now through the Northwest Response Fund.
