It is with heavy hearts the family of Brian Richard O’Neill announces his passing on Thursday, June 15, 2023. He was the beloved son of the late James E. and Virginia F. O’Neill and brother of the late James E. O’Neill Jr. and will be deeply missed by his surviving family and friends.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. John the Evangelist Church, 553 Humboldt Street, Rochester, NY 14610 on Saturday, August 12, 2023 @ 12:00 p.m. Inurnment will be held privately.
Brian’s family will host a celebration of life at Ellison Park Hazelwood Grove Lodge on Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the American Lung Association.
To Jayne and the entire O’Neill family: We are so sorry to hear the sad news of your brother’s passing. From what we know of him, Brian had a big heart and was a kind soul. He definitely landed upstairs and is now looking down on you all with a smile.
My Brother-in-law Brian was a terrific person. Though he was much younger, it was always fun being around him. Peg and I tried to include him in family activities and daytrips. When he was 10 years old, he stayed with us for a few weeks in Washington, DC and he always mentioned that trip as a fun one for him. RIP young man.
Brian was one of a kind! He was crazy, tough and funny as hell! I knew Brian for at least 50 years… Meeting him when we were both about 12 years old… I think at Chris Wightman pool at the corner of Royalston and Winton Road. I thought I was pretty good on a diving board but he showed me up right off the bat.. doing double flips and gainers perfectly. He was also a very fast sprinter… So catching him was out of the question if he started running.
1982 … In our early twenties, I had left Rochester and lived in Florida for a year. I came home to visit and suggested to him to make a new start and do the same. He packed a bag and threw it in my trunk… he somehow scrounged up 100 bucks In 2 hours and we were on the road down the coast… First Virginia Beach, then Myrtle Beach… And finally Jacksonville Beach Florida where I had lived with roommates in a company rented house where he joined us selling suntan products on the pool decks. He Immediately got a 2nd job at the new hotel in the kitchen… And soon went full time and rented a big house with a pool with some of the other kitchen staff he met. I moved to Daytona Beach and he followed a few months later moving in with me and another friend Artie Manual who had just settled on hefty financial lawsuit $$$ offering us free room and board… Brian and I were both selling suntan lotion on the decks again and servicing pools off season. Artie’s free room and board didn’t last long lol…. forcing us to rent a room at the budget beach motel weekly for months ( many stories there) Then eventually getting apartment on the mainland. Brian eventually met a girl and moved in with her. He continued to sell suntan products on the decks… He was natural salesman and did very well. He took a second job shucking clams and oysters at the famous Ocean Deck on the beach… “And of course’ he mastered the skill …breaking shucking records. After a couple more years I was promoted in the suntan business and eventually transferred to take over the Texas coast out of Galveston. Brian stayed in Daytona Beach another four or five years, met another girl whose father invited him to Kentucky to work in his construction company…. He went! I had gotten married and started a used car lot on the side during that same time period In Texas…. Eventually quitting The beach concession / suntan lotion business and running the car dealership full time. Brian saved up his money, flew to Texas from Kentucky and picked up a car from me… And drove it back to Kentucky. About a year later…1987 as my marriage was dissolving… I sold the car lot telling Brian I will visit him on the move back to Rochester…. He stated he was ready to go back too!!! So I passed through Lexington and he joined the caravan driving behind me all the way to back to Rochester.
The story doesn’t end there… Through the years Brian has helped me many times… He helped me build my house in Penfield and hundreds of other projects we worked on. He will never be forgotten. I was lucky enough to consult with him about some work a couple weeks before he passed. I’m sure glad I got to see him and talk to him. We had a little falling out about 4 years ago when he did something I didn’t like but when I saw him everything was good. I will miss you Brian.