Dave Brecht

Bryan and I were special friends at Linden Park Primary School since 1958. We used to hang out after school and on weekends with our “gang”, quite often meeting up in Hazelwood Park on a Saturday afternoon. Sometimes a bunch of us would go to the old track on Conyngham Street in Glenside and race our bicycles around the dirt circuit, pretending we were speedway riders at Rowley Park. On other occasions, we took our soapbox racers to a steeply inclined street in St Georges and came tearing down the hill, whooping with excitement. Whatever we were doing after school, we usually hurried back to Bryan’s home in time to watch our heroes, The Three Stooges. Bryan was full of energy and fun and the time spent with him was always enjoyable.
After we finished Year 7 at Linden Park and received our Progress Certificates, we went to different high-schools and drifted apart. It was a real pleasure to renew the friendship in January 2012 when Bryan contacted me and asked me to help with the preparations for our 50-year reunion for the Linden Park senior class of 1962. He was still exactly the same guy I remembered and we still had the same affinity. In our first meeting in 2012, at the Robin Hood Hotel, I found myself calling him “Charlie” which was the nickname he was mostly known by back at Linden Park. After the reunion, I made a point of keeping in touch with Bryan and we planned a number of events for our old Linden Park classmates.
I’m deeply saddened by Bryan’s passing and it took me by surprise. I always imagined he’d recover and come back strong and go right on being Bryan. He touched many people’s lives and was admired and respected by his many friends. We’ve lost a great guy and he will be missed very much and never forgotten.