Memorial Board for Bryan Rich
Football and nature
Bryan Rich loved the outdoors. He felt blessed to have lived around southern Oregon’s forests and rivers his whole life. Rich grew up in Gold Beach and graduated from Crater High School in Central Point in 1997.
“Nature gives me peace of mind,” he wrote on his MySpace page. He loved to get out of the rat race and go to the river, he said.
Rich loved football, too. The backdrop of his page is the Denver Broncos’ logo, and he lists John Elway as his hero. He excelled in wrestling, though, said Katie O’Donnell, his fiancee and lifelong friend.
His friend Justin Miller said they spent a lot of time on the river, fishing for salmon. Miller also praised his friend’s professional skills. “Bryan probably was one of the best framing carpenters in this town,” Miller said.
Rich had taken up work as a firefighter because the slumping construction industry made it hard to find work framing houses. But he loved fighting fires.
O’Donnell said Rich loved helping others, which is what motivated him to try fighting fires for the first time just a few months ago. He discovered a passion for the new job. “The experience motivated him to become a career firefighter,” O’Donnell said. “He planned to sign up when he returned from California.”
Miller spent time with Rich at a barbecue just before Rich left to fight the Iron Complex fire in Northern California.
“He was excited,” Miller said about his friend. “He was ready to go down there.”
– Jacques Van Lunen
More tribute and memorial sites for Bryan Rich:
you will be in our hearts forever.
your were doing good with your life I cant belive after 15 years your gone I’m goning to miss you man
man 15 years on and off builing houses together you were good with a chainsaw I’m going to miss you man
Brian, you were such an awesome guy. You have no idea how many people are mourning over your death. I really had fun with you during the time that we were hanging out. I’m really gonna miss you. Its comforting to know that you had given your life to jesus before you died. That means that I’m gonna see you again….in Heaven my friend. God bless your soul. I will pray for your family.
god bless i will never forget.