Bradley Clark Horlock

1966 - 2017

Yesterday would have been Brad's 52nd birthday. Sadly, we lost Brad after his three month battle with West Nile Virus. Two weeks after Hurricane Harvey, Brad was bitten by a mosquito carrying West Nile Virus. On October 1, 2017 Brad collapsed and went into a coma after being admitted to Methodist Hospital. Brad was quarantined in the ICU, and infectious disease doctors were there to give our family the devastating news that the virus had crossed the brain barrier causing encephalitis. Brad awoke from his coma a quadriplegic. Brad fought for his life every, single day until December 29th, 2017 when he passed away to be with the Lord.
Brad was born on February 24, 1966 in Point Claire, Quebec, Canada. He was the beloved son to the late Marion Clark Horlock of Houston, and the late John Hubert Hunter of Ninette, Manitoba. He was the grandson of the late Mary and Myrven Clark of Vancouver, B.C. and to the late Edith and James Hunter of Ninette. He was also the great-grandson of the late Robert Hunter, Rector of the Church of St. John Maddermarket, Norwich, England. Brad is survived by his beautiful daughter, Katherine, his sister and brother-in-law, Brenda and Bradley Jewett of Austin, and their children, Jacob, Clark, Lela and Ava Jewett.
Brad was the nephew of the late Audrey Slye and Harry Slye. Cousin to the late Collin Slye and David Slye.
At ten years old, Brad immigrated to America in 1976 due to his mother's remarriage. Brad, his little sister Brenda, and their mother set off for a new life, a new home and a new step-family. Brad gained a little brother, Roy Horlock, and they shared a room growing up and became true brothers for life. Roy and Brad were outrageously fun together and shared the best of their childhoods. The family was raised in Hunters Creek Village and Brad graduated from Memorial High School in 1984. It was growing up in Memorial that Brad made his greatest friendships. Friends that would soon travel to see Brad in the hospital as he fought for his life. Andrew Strong, David Freel, MG Wilkomirski, Dan Powers and GJ Loh were a constant source of encouragement to our family. After high school, Brad went to The University of Texas at Austin, graduating with degrees in Engineering and Business. Brad was also a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity at UT. Brad spent his senior year in college training to become a Marine. Brad was accepted in 1989 to Officer Candidate School at Quantico. Brad was so proud of that accomplishment and being told he made the highest score on the physical portion. Brad decided to build his career instead after getting a great job offer in Houston.
Brad started his career at Compaq Computers in 1990. Sadly, in 1992, Brad's mother would pass away from cancer and it was a very painful loss for him. He pushed onward and would work for some of the best companies in Houston. Brad worked at Igloo, Hewlett-Packard, FMC, Schlumberger, GE Oil&Gas, and lastly at Weatherford. Brad earned the highest accreditations in his field over the years and he never gave up as the market went up and down. He was a great role model of perseverance through tough times and great losses. Brad was a fighter and a fierce competitor. He was also a very private man. Brad only let a few, trusted people into his personal life.
In November 2016, Brad was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. He took on chemotherapy like a champ. He never complained once and would tell his family, "I'm going to beat this." He was so optimistic that he bought himself a labrador puppy and named him Axl Rose. Brad's oncologist thought he was crazy to get a dog, but Axl gave Brad so much love and hope for the future. Brad continued to work through his last chemo in May 2017, and was finally in remission and feeling good. The only problem was that his immune system was compromised after chemotherapy. When Hurricane Harvey hit, Brad, like most Houstonians, only worried about the flood waters. But as the National Guard flew into Houston to spray pesticide to kill the growing mosquito population, Brad was unaware that the risk for him was going to be in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
The greatest love of Brad's life was his daughter, Katherine. She was everything to him and he loved her cute laugh and her freckles. He nicknamed her his Peppermint Patty and treasured her all sixteen years together. Brad loved to brag that as a single Dad he never once hired a babysitter. Katherine was his world. Brad and Katherine would take the funniest selfies that usually included Brad shooting the bird at the camera. Katherine and her father loved to travel together, and they teased each other mercilessly. They would eat at Ginza Sushi and Cafe Lili weekly. These were Brad's favorite restaurants and the owners knew him by name and always greeted him with hugs. Brad loved eating at Cafe Lili and being greeted by the Bejiani family. At Ginza, Katherine says that every time she and her Dad walked in the door the older Japanese lady would call out, "Sexyman!". It always made her Dad laugh. Katherine learned her Dad had eaten at both restaurants since college and they knew him for over 28 years. Through the years and after the loss of his parents, these restaurants became like home and eating with family for Brad.
Brad loved rock music and he tried to teach Katherine, his nephews and nieces all the words to songs by Rush, Led Zeppelin, Guns n'Roses, and Judas Priest when they rode in his truck. Brad was a movie-buff, and wanted the kids to watch the classic movies with him. Every 007, the Alien movies, Star Wars, Monty Python, True Grit, Apocalypse Now and Godfather trilogy. The list was endless. To Brad, heaven on earth was watching a movie with Katherine on a Saturday night. How blessed Katherine is to know she had a father that adored her and wanted to hang out with her all the time.
Brad was also very involved in the lives of his nephews and nieces. He practically lived at his sister's house. He loved to go behind his sister's back and teach her children cuss words and take them to R-rated movies. Brad loved his nephews and he would tell them that they were the sons he'd never have. He went to almost every football and lacrosse games of Jacob and Clark. He loved to meet them on the field after the games and discuss their plays. He was such a faithful uncle to them. Brad loved to take Jacob to sushi dinners and hang out. They were very close. Brad would play countless hours of ping-pong with Clark. Clark was Brad's nemesis. Brad would go over to see Clark and make him play ping-pong. Brad and Clark would fight like cats and dogs calling each other a "cheater". Brad's sister would say, "Brad, just let Clark win." Brad would say, "Never". Finally when Clark was about 16 years old, he beat his uncle at ping-pong. You would have thought Clark had won the Super Bowl. Clark razzed his uncle and gloated over his win. Brad shook his hand and immediately put Clark in a headlock with a noogie. Brad then walked inside his sister's house and said, "Your son is a jackass." And Brenda replied, "Well, it takes one to know one."
Brad was close to his nieces, Lela and Ava, too. Brad would text Lela, "Let's go on a date this weekend." They were super cute together and Lela adored her uncle. Lela had something special with him til the very end. The youngest niece was Ava. Ava only wanted to watch Spongebob and Gravity Falls with her uncle. Uncle Brad would moan, "Not again, Ava?", but Brenda would pour him a glass of Pinot Noir and he'd sit on that sofa with Ava and they would laugh together. Uncle Brad was such a stinker and he would whisper in Ava's ear, "You know you're my favorite. Your brothers and sister actually bug me."
Through this past November and December, Brenda went everyday to see Brad in the hospital. Brad never left the ICU and his faithful brother-in-law, Bradley Jewett, would tell him everything that was going on in the news, UT football and they'd watch the Astros games all the way to the World Series for the win.
Brad and his sister loved to argue about everything, especially politics and religion. They were best friends and were inseperable. Brad would accuse his sister of being a communist, a Jesus-Freak and a leftwing liberal. The day Brenda told her brother she voted for Obama he got so angry that he stormed out of her house and slammed the door. So, when Trump won last year, Brad called Brenda to celebrate the next morning and yelled into the phone, "His Royal Highness Sir Trump!…", and Brenda hung up on him. Brad never enjoyed visiting Brenda's church on holidays but she made him go anyways. Brad was convinced that St. Martin's Episcopal was the only legit church in Houston. Brad loved the simplicity of The Apostle's Creed and thought it was perfect and good enough for him.
The fact is Brad only loved his daughter, his sister and her family. Honestly, he had no interest in adding new people to his life. His friendship with his brother-in-law, Brad Jewett, had become very important over the years. These two men shared the same first name but they could not have been more different in temperament. Brad was opinionated, ornery and brutally honest. Brad Jewett is reserved and diplomatic. After a couple bottles of wine these two could land at the O.K. Corral most holidays. Once they seriously considered applying to be on The Amazing Race together. In a panic, Brenda convinced them no one needed to witness that murder on national television.
Brad stated in his will that he did not want a funeral or a memorial service. He hated funerals. He wanted his ashes spread in Seattle where he had planned to retire one day with Axl. Brad will be terribly missed in the years to come. The family treasures Katherine and Axl, and they have become part of his treasured legacy left behind.
Lastly, as the family gathered in the ICU to tell Brad how much they loved him; they all broke down into tears. Brenda looked around the room and couldn't find her oldest son, Jacob. The ICU had us all wearing masks, gloves and surgeon gowns so she knew Jacob wouldn't get far dressed like that. Brenda went around a corner to find Jacob and asked, "Are you okay? I know this is awful. I hope you know how much your uncle loved you?". Jacob looked at his mom and said, "I need to tell you something. Uncle Brad wasn't taking me to sushi all those times. He was actually taking me to Twin Peaks." Brenda started to laugh hysterically. "He was the greatest, huh?".
Yep.