Gary Sean O'Neill

1966 - 2024

Gary Sean O'Neill, a respected and loved partner, son, brother, uncle and friend was born in Olympia, WA on March 24,1966 and died at age 58 on July 14, 2024, at his home in Sequim, Washington after a 14-month battle with cancer. He is survived by his partner Tiffany Lozano, his parents Gary and Nancy O'Neil, his 3 brothers Tristan, Kyle, and Barry, plus a nephew and six nieces.

Growing up in Olympia, Sean attended McKinley Elementary School, Washington Middle School and Olympia High School, graduating in 1984. He attended Washington State University, where he joined the Sigma Nu Fraternity making many close lifetime friends or "brothers". His love for all things Coug continued throughout his life.

Sean had a love for nature, the outdoors, camping, hiking and mountain biking and possessed an entrepreneurial spirit, which led him to establish two successful businesses. His love of biking and being outdoors led him to Moab, Utah where he started the Chile Pepper Bike Shop, which still runs today. Later Sean returned to the Northwest and worked for Lagunitas brewing where he made many friends in the industry then ultimately landed in Sequim. There, Sean noticed a need for a taproom, so he decided to open one, establishing Peninsula Taproom in 2017. He met his partner Tiffany there the following year and they hit it off immediately - after insisting that he text her a photo of the then Cougs QB Gardner Minshew dressed as Uncle Rico.

In May 2023, Sean was diagnosed with glioblastoma brain cancer. Throughout the disease progression and treatment, he maintained his love for life, his positive attitude and his gracious spirit. One of Sean's favorite sayings was "There are two types of days - good days and great days" and he displayed that attitude daily. Sean always wanted others to be happy and comfortable. He always asked those caring for him (in any capacity) how their day was going and how they themselves were doing. His focus was never on himself. Sean continued to find joy in the simple things in life like going to the beach, taking walks, drinking coffee, watching Seattle sports, listening to KEXP, sitting outside on the back patio looking at the mountains and playing with their dog. Sean often offered quiet nuggets of wisdom such as, learn something new every day, always have 25% left in your tank, advocate for and support small local businesses and above all else be nice to people and treat them with respect and dignity. He truly embodied his beliefs.

Sean welcomed others without reservation and drew people together by listening to and looking for a common ground within each person. His magnetic personality, quick wit and laugh, and love for life allowed for his friends to become his family and for his family, especially his brothers, to become his friends. Sean loved spending time with his nieces and nephew and took pride in watching them grow. He was definitely the favorite Uncle. Sean was also able to spend time with Tiffany's kids and became close friends with them, especially in the year following his diagnosis.

In Sean's own words "People say it's all me, it's not all me you know…There's no way to explain how it works, why we have what we have…There's a spirit. It's an entrepreneurial spirit, something I fiercely believe in that is part of being a small business owner and one of the special, magic, unique things about owning a small business, especially some place like the Taproom. It's part of a community - that's all I ever want people to say. I don't care about my pride. I don't care about that. It's about experiences, memories, friendships, moments. It's about combining the human spirit, passion and uh, you know love for one another. It's just the easiest simple thing to do to show appreciation for your friends and co-workers. It's a unique, unique opportunity that I've known since day one. "

Sean created a significant impact on those he came into contact with and our community and will be tremendously missed. We know his spirit will carry on in those that knew and loved him.