Brian O'Neill

O'Neill, Brian
WATERVLIET - Brian Edward O'Neill passed peacefully from this life on Wednesday, August 28, 2024.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, on December 29, 1939, Brian was the son of the late Donald Thomas O'Neill and Anna Hogan.
Brian, with his wife, Joanne, who passed away in 2021, resided in the Port Schuyler section of Watervliet for more than 51 years, where they raised their family.
Brian enlisted in the Army in 1958, after graduating from New Britain High School, in Conn. After he served in Germany during the Cold War, he settled in the Albany area, where he met the love of his life, his wife, Joanne. A talented athlete and musician, who loved playing the piano and singing, Brian enjoyed the times spent with his children and grandchildren, sharing his love of music, dancing and sports with them. He worked and retired as a brakeman for Conrail, in Selkirk. Brian was a member of the Watervliet Elks Lodge, and was the founder of the Dart League, and played on the Elks softball team for many years. In retirement, he joined a volunteer group, where he and Joanne entertained residents in retirement homes in the Albany area. He was a member of the Capital District Harmonica Club.
Brian was the author of "A Life on the Line," where he shared his 97% Free Throw Shooting technique, and the song that he wrote, "Our Flag and Country."
Brian is survived by his children, Patti O'Neill-Brown, and her husband, Doug Brown, Tom O'Neill, and his wife, Tammi O'Neill, and Brian O'Neill; grandchildren, Casey and Kerry O'Neill and Lara and Alex Brown; sister, Maureen Boskon; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
A Funeral Mass for Brian will be celebrated by the Reverend Donald L. Rutherford on Friday, September 6, 2024, at 10:00 a.m., in The Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 25th Street and 7th Avenue, Watervliet. (Remote viewing of the Mass available on the Parker Bros. Memorial Facebook page) Interment and Rite of Committal will follow, at 12:30 p.m., in the Gerald B.H. Solomon-Saratoga National Cemetery. Friends are invited to attend and visit with Brian's family on Thursday, September 5, from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m., at Parker Bros. Memorial Funeral Home, 2013 Broadway, Watervliet.
In addition to flowers, the family requests with gratitude that memorial donations be made to the Elks National Foundation (www.elks.org) in memory of Brian O'Neill.