Steven P. Brennan

Steven P. Brennan of Wellfleet MA left this world for his next big adventure just as the sun rose on Saturday, Feb. 28. He always liked to start his trips early. He had just turned 59 years old the month before, four years and two months into living bravely and on his own terms with an ALS diagnosis.

[Details on services are at the end.]

Most people didn't even know Steve had ALS. That's the way he wanted it. He didn't like telling his friends because it made them sad. And he was determined to live his whole life.

Cool, charismatic, kind and loyal are words most often used to describe Steve. He lived life with incredible enthusiasm, moving from one adventure to another, almost always with a surfboard (or several) in his company. Surfing, after all, was the love of his life.

Steve leaves behind his adoring sisters, Carole and Cindy Brennan of Arlington MA and Chris Glines of Centerville MA; as well as his nephews, Ryan Glines (Kate O'Donnell) of Boston MA and Jeffrey Glines (Kate Couet) of Osterville MA; his great nephews, Noah, Griffin and Jack Glines of Osterville MA; and many loving cousins. He was predeceased by his dear mother, Eleanor Healy Brennan, in 2004, and his father, Paul W. Brennan, in 2020, along with his maternal grandparents, Daniel and Catherine (O'Brien) Healy, who came to America via Ellis Island in the early 1900s, and his paternal grandparents, John and Helen (Monahan) Brennan, as well as many aunts and uncles and cousins who he loved very much.

Steve's family was not just linked by blood. He loved his friends as if they were family. He leaves dozens of "best friends" (and their spouses and children), including: Rich Scannell, Russ LaMontagne, Rob Morgan, Thor Baum, Luke Simpson, Josh Kelly, Ben Mayhew, Melissa DesRosiers, Paul Sanchez, Nadeen Vella, Gigg Strom, Brian Sheehan, Mike Archer and Dave Ring. He also leaves many other close friends with whom he shared amazing friendships since his college days and early career.

Steve moved to Cape Cod with a few friends during college for summer work. That's when he really discovered surfing, though the seed was planted from the age of five when he first watched Elvis on a surfboard.

He was hooked from the time he bought his first board. He constantly surfed the Wellfleet and Outer Cape beaches and most of the RI breaks with his crew. He quickly knew he needed to live close to the ocean and eventually came to call Wellfleet his home for his entire adult life ... but still, the world was his oyster.

Whether he was heading out to do a film in far-off places like New Zealand, Fiji or Prague; or chasing great music at Jazz Fest in New Orleans or a pub in Doolin, County Clare, Ireland; or cajoling his friends into a surf trip to Morocco or Costa Rica or a snowboarding weekend in Vermont or Utah; he always had a bag ready to go.

Over the years, he put thousands of miles on his many old cars as he crisscrossed New England, the East Coast and the country; often with his beloved big black lab Kahuna in tow. Man, he loved that dog.

He didn't much like new things. Except, of course, the sharp wardrobe he always sported. He outdressed everyone with his unique sense of style. He got it from his Dad, who also was known for cutting a fine figure. [He shared his Dad's love of sarcasm and making people laugh, too.]

Later in life, Steve bought a boat, something his Dad always wanted to do. It was a Cape Dory 28 and he named it Volaré, after a favorite song his Dad liked to amusingly belt out for the family. Wellfleet kids would swim out from Jeremy Point to "Stevie B's" boat and climb to the top and jump off for hours on end. Steve loved every minute of it. He cared deeply about his friends' kids and gave each one of them the special attention they deserved.

Steve was as authentic as they come. He was who he was from start to finish, always true to his heart and head. His music collection was a good example. In high school and college, he liked Springsteen like everyone else but he also was listening to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Johnny Cash, Jerry Jeff Walker, Roy Orbison, the Clancy Brothers, John Prine, Leonard Cohen, and on and on. His LP collection was incredibly diverse and eclectic but it may have had more Shane MacGowan and The Pogues than anything else.

He loved Irish music, especially the traditional stuff. In fact, he achieved his dual citizenship and moved with a good buddy to Ireland for a time to be closer to the magical sounds and to surf the famous Lahinch waves near where his grandfather was born.

He read all the great books, with Irish authors among his most favorite. He credited his love of reading to a dear friend who encouraged him in this area (and with music, too). His favorite book was All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, who also was his favorite author. Steve had the romantic soul of a poet and loved to write and turn a spoken phrase in the way of some of his favorite old Irish authors. It was all a very real part of him.

Steve also loved the Patriots, the Sox, the Cs and the Bruins. He was a true homer; a fan of all Boston sports teams from an early age. That's the way his Red Sox-loving mother raised him. [To say Steve was unhappy that he had a disease named after a Yankees' player was an understatement.]

Steve graduated from the University of Massachusetts - Amherst with a bachelor's degree in communications (and a minor in fun and chaos) with his pals from Phi Mu Delta. And he headed off for a career in TV and film right away!

His list of movie credits as a proud and longtime member of I.A.T.S.E. locals 481, 52 and 44 was extensive. And the list of good friends he made on those films was even longer. He made lifelong bonds with the guys with whom he worked on his first jobs - Against the Law and JFK. He went on to work on many major films as an on-set dresser or in the prop department. Some of his credits include: The Last Samurai, The Departed, Shutter Island, Cast Away, The Devil Wears Prada, Meet Joe Black, Hart's War, Don't Look Up, and on and on. And he never met a movie he didn't want to watch — right through all the credits!

In the end, his family and friends and view of Wellfleet Harbor and the sunsets behind Great Island kept him company. He may have had a glass or two of Irish whiskey, also, with his people. Sláinte, buddy.

Where once raced a bright spirit, follows a quiet stillness.
— From a poem Steve wrote when Kahuna left this world many moons ago

There will be a funeral mass in Steve's honor at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, March 14 at St. Agnes Church, 32 Medford St. Arlington MA with a reception afterward at Menotomy Grill & Tavern, 25 Mass. Ave., Arlington MA.

In lieu of flowers, people are invited to make a donation in Steve's name to The Lily House, a very special hospice home in the Wellfleet woods at 40 Pochahontus Rd., Wellfleet MA 02667, or Compassionate Care ALS (CCALS), 17 Chase Rd., Falmouth MA 02540, an organization that supports people living with ALS.

Steve's family and friends also are planning to celebrate his amazing life in Wellfleet in late spring when the weather is better and the surf will be warmer. Details on that to come.