Brian Eugene Holbrook

Brian Eugene Holbrook
January 21, 1973 - February 20, 2023
Richland, Washington - Brian was born in Hazelwood, Missouri to Barbara and Herschel Holbrook January 21, 1973. His entry into this world, as it was with his exit from this world, was way too early. Born three months premature, he learned how to fight for his life from his first breath. He continued that fight for the next fifty years. He graduated from Poplar Bluff High School in 1991.
Entering the Army from his hometown of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Brian attended basic training, followed by advanced individual training and later parachute training or Airborne School on Ft. Benning, Georgia. Brian served as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division on Ft. Bragg North Carolina assigned to 4-325 Airborne Infantry Regiment and later as a hometown recruiter in Washington State. During this time, he trained throughout the United States in support of dozens of airborne operations and simulated airfield seizure exercises, often facilitating and supervising drop zone recovery operations. In 1996, Brian supported military humanitarian relief efforts in support of Hurricane Fran recovery. Brian is remembered by his platoon as a mentor, a man of positive character and someone they looked to for advice, a good song, a cigarette and a glass of bourbon. Brian achieved the rank of Specialist and earned an honorable discharge.
While in the Army, Brian met and married Krista. From this marriage, Liam and Kathy were born. Liam and Kathy were the delight of Brian's life. If you knew Brian, you knew how much he adored them and how proud he was of them. They are kind, considerate, artistic, soulful and intelligent, all of which he liked to take credit for. The family would settle in the Tri-Cities, Washington.
In June 2002, Brian was diagnosed with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, an inherited genetic disorder that prevents the body from producing an important protein which helps protect the liver and the lungs. It causes early-onset emphysema and cirrhosis of the liver. This disease would become the center for all of Brian's decision making, good and bad, for the next twenty-one years of his life.
Brian was incredibly talented. Among other things, he was an artist, a writer, a singer-songwriter, and a performer. Even before moving to the Pacific Northwest, he met many people and made many friends by performing music. Around the Tri-Cities and beyond, he played at wineries & events, and hosted open-mic nights and encouraged other musicians. He often said he was tuned to a minor key, and that was true. His was not music to dance to, but rather to cry along with. He drew his inspiration from his own personal heartbreak and viewpoints on life, death, love, politics and everything in-between (but mostly heartbreak). We do not have a shortage of his sad music to draw from for his memorial service.
In 2006, Brian recorded the album, A Thousand Miles Long. A good friend of Brian's once wrote of this album, "Great songwriters can pull emotions out and put your pain into words that you can only express as tears." Brian was able to do this, time and again. He continued to manipulate us with his songwriting through his albums Brown Bottle Flu and Drowning on Air.
Brian was a mariner. He always wanted to own and live on a sailboat. He often said he wished he could buy a sailboat and sail west on out of here. In late 2016, he purchased a 30' ultralight sailboat and named her Tillikum after the orca Tillicum, or Tilly for short. Brian sold nearly everything he owned and lived on Tilly for the better part of two years, sailing up and down the Columbia. We are still not sure how he pulled this off, given the fact that there are no live-aboard marinas in the Tri-Cities, but he did.
It's hard to say whether Brian's viewpoints on politics and religion contributed to or were a product of his being a crusader. Always a spokesman for the downtrodden, he wasn't afraid to speak (and write) his mind. He considered himself a devout atheist and was a card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He was quite proud of that card. On either of these topics, he respected others' viewpoints but did not appreciate if others didn't respect his.
In the fall of 2017, Brian visited Rockaway Beach, Oregon for the first time, and was mesmerized. He fell in love with the ocean, the smell, and the small-town feel that he would soon realize filled the Poplar-Bluff sized hole in his heart. By early 2018, he purchased a small home, sight-unseen, and ran away to the sea.
In Rockaway Beach he found a refuge. He made new friends and conjured a new lease on life. He soon moved Tilly to the back yard of his "little Shangri-La", where she remains to this day. He wrote and recorded another album, Marina, and continued writing and re-recording for the next five years. Rockaway Beach and a broken heart were the inspiration for "Summer Never Comes", a ballad cherished by many Rockaway inhabitants. He also painted, cooked gourmet meals, and hosted weekend retreats for friends and family from all over.
Eventually, though, it was time to come home, home to the family and friends who could care for him in his final days. For all of us, we were fortunate to have the last year with him, to philosophize for hours until the wee hours of the morning (Brian didn't understand the meaning of worknight). He spent the last year working diligently to re-record, re-edit and re-imagine his earlier songwriting and prose.
Brian lost his battle with his lungs on Monday, February 20, 2023. He is survived by his son Liam and daughter Katherine Holbrook and their mom Krista of Richland, Washington; parents, Barbara and Herschel "Butch" Holbrook of Poplar Bluff, Missouri; his sisters Shannon Penrod and Autumn Lane and their families, many nieces, nephews, cousins, and countless friends from every facet of his life. We will all miss him sorely.
Brian's family and friends are forever grateful for the steadfast care from Krista Holbrook, Tri-Cities Chaplaincy House, Visiting Angels and many devoted care-takers throughout the past few years. For those friends and family we haven't named here, please know that he loved you.
Brian's work can be read and listened to at https://drowningonair.com/. To learn more about Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, please visit https://www.alpha1.org/.
Brian's family will be holding a small private ceremony at a later date. A public memorial service for his friends will be held Saturday, March 4 at the Emerald of Siam, 1314 Jadwin Ave, Richland from 1 p.m. - 4 p.m. The service will also be live-streamed via Brian's public music page on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/brian.holbrook1.
"A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music...and then people crowd about the poet and say to him: 'Sing for us soon again'; that is as much as to say, 'May new sufferings torment your soul.'" ~Soren Kierkegaard