Obituary of Brennan Olsen

It is with great sorrow that we announce the sudden passing of Brennan Thomas Olsen, aged 13 years, at his home near Neilburg, Saskatchewan, on July 1, 2020.

Brennan is lovingly remembered by: his parents Lawrence and Julie Olsen; his siblings, Colby and Brielle; his grandparents, Richard and Maxine Little of Camrose, Alberta and Victor and Sandra Olsen of Lloydminster; his great grandma, Dora Olsen of Red Deer, Alberta; his aunts, Jane (Roddy) McKinnon of Rollisten, New Zealand, Wendy (Shane) Stafford of Red Deer, Alberta; his uncle, Michael (Amanda) Little of Daysland, Alberta; his cousins, Emanuela, Indi, Fergus, Boyd, Autumn, Emery, Amy and Ella.

Brennan was predeceased by: his grandmother, Leanor Olsen.

A private family service will be held on Tuesday, July 7, 2020 at 2:00 PM. If you wish to watch the live streaming of the service please take note of  the following instructions:
- Login to Facebook
- Go to McCaw Funeral Service page at 2:00 PM.

Brennan's memorial card can be viewed or downloaded from the link below.

https://indd.adobe.com/view/f5169e2e-76b5-42d6-9967-0b5f905eec13

Eulogy: 

Brennan was born into the perfect family. He could have lived in the city but I reckon that would have driven him crazy and the wide open prairie he loved to roam around would have called to him constantly. He could have been born into an academic family, but we certainly know high academic achievement was not his thing! No, Brennan was raised on a farm, the perfect place for an adventurous boy who loved to explore and learn new things. 

You could always count on Brennan to come up with a plan; he was a very resourceful kid. If Mom needed something fix around the house it was Brennan she called.  One of Brennan’s chores was to take out the garbage.  For Brennan this involved a careful analysis of the garbage. He would take out anything that had potential for a useful yet unrealised project and then store it away for future endeavours. Very rarely would Brennan ever declare anything “junk”!

Brennan loved to chop wood with axes.  It may have been for a campfire or just to see how big of a tree he could chop down! There was never a dull axe or loose axe head on the farm!

Covid has upset the lives of many, but for Brennan it was a gift.  He could forget all the academic nonsense and tedious school time and do the things that he really loved to do. The kids were able to be home and Brennan finally got his dad to teach him to weld. This turned into projects like building a mobile chicken coop for his mom, making a water trailer for the yard and converting a tent trailer into a flat deck trailer.  Over these last few months Brennan became incredibly close to Lawrence as they worked on the varied and constantly changing work of a busy farm together.  Julie and Lawrence say that he had never been happier.  They speak with quiet pride of his flourishing potential and saw glimpses of the man he might have become as he started to find his niche and build on the skills he was absorbing like a sponge.

We also think of the special relationship that Brennan had with his siblings.  Brennan was the adventurous one and Colby was his sidekick - there for the adventure but never driving it.  The boys recently had left home and taken to living in a tent to see how long they could last.   Not content to enjoy the good weather, they both revelled in enduring the rain and the wind, taking immense pride in roughing it through a wet night and enjoying a celebratory Hot Chocolate on their camp stove after yet another wet and windy adventure.

Brielle was fortunate to have two big brothers, Brennan was the one that pushed her boundaries. Not only was Colby Brennan’s sidekick but Brielle was often not far behind ready for every adventure Brennan would push them too. When something needed to be done Brennan took charge and she quickly learned to do what he wanted or just get out of his way!

Skiing holidays were a vacation that the whole family enjoyed. There’s a freedom of the mountain that the two boys embraced-  Brennan and Colby would be gone for the whole day only popping back for a refuel of food periodically or to regal their mom and dad with tales of tree’s narrowly missed, epic jumps and often equally epic wipe-outs, Brennan leading the way with Colby hot on his heels!

It seemed that Brennan was always “there”, taking in what people were saying and doing and then processing it in his own way- often delving into a new project and pushing his own skills as he strove to emulate his dad who he loved to work with. He was inquisitive and interested in how things worked and world around him.

His uncle Roddy recalls during a holiday at the Lake in New Zealand, having to bite his tongue as Brennan raided his jet boat tool box in search of a large screw driver and a hammer to facilitate the manufacture of a rope swing seat. The screwdriver took quite a beating but holes were bored, knots tied and a swing out over the lake was erected and many hours of fun had by the whole cuzzie crew- the mess left behind, was less the evidence of a disorganised person and instead the casual debris of a young man who had a lot to get done and not enough time to clean up before he dove head first into the next adventure!

Brennan made his choice to serve God at the age of ten. As reading wasn’t his strong point his parents would read the bible with him. Brennan was a critical thinker and the questions he had about the bible often lead to many conversations about his relationship with God.  Brennan loved his parents deeply, and were the rocks he could rely on. He was the kind of good lad that we knew would one day be a good man.

Brennan smiled at early age and simply has never stopped smiling since then. His smile just grew a little more mischievous! He was a little man with a big heart.

When Brennan was in trouble, (and it was fairly frequently because- lets face it he was a boy and he was always pushing the boundaries to see when the parental limits would appear!) his Dad would come after him and Brennan would high tail it out of Dodge- Grandpa Little reckons he has never seen anybody run so fast backwards up a set a stairs as it was better to see the swat coming than not being able to sidestep!

Grandma Little considered Brennan the fix-it kid and would have a list of jobs that she had saved for him to sort out on his frequent visits.  Brennan loved his little cousins and they loved him back, a lot of rough and tumble was had when the Olsen cousin’s came to visit the Little’s farm.

Trips to Red Deer to see Great Grandma Olsen and his Stafford cousins were always an adventure for this farm boy. This gave him opportunity to ride his skateboard on smooth pavement rather than the gravel driveway. He loved hanging out with big cousin Amy driving around the city.  Ella remembers coming to visit on the farm and Brennan was excited to show off his latest projects including his office that he had set up in the basement.  He always had a great big smile when he saw them.   Fun times where had teaching her how to drive the side by side and exploring the farm together.

Just as Colby was Brennan’s sidekick Brennan was always by Grandpa Olsen’s side searching for treasures to repurpose. Brennan always thought he could make something useful however; he needed to pack carefully to get passed mom’s watchful eye!  Just recently Sandra asked Brennan if he finishes all his projects or was he just like Grandpa with nothing completely finished? He looked at her with a twinkle in his eye and a mischievous grin and said, “I’m an Olsen!”

Brennan loved his Grandma Olsen and missed her when she passed away. There is a comfort knowing that they are together again. 

Looking at photos from a tramp on their recent trip to New Zealand  there are several photos of all the kids but Brennan seems to be missing. However, if you look carefully away in the distance you will spot him far ahead.   He always arrived first and once again he has beaten the rest of us.  We can’t ask him to slow down or wait, he is gone and we are heartbroken. He was a precious gift to us for 13 years. Thanks for adding so much to our lives you dear boy, we love you and we will miss you.