Obituary of Robert John Brians

He inspired many and was most proud of being a teacher, father and husband. Resident of San Benito County, North of Hollister, since 1973. Robert was pre-deceased by his parents and his younger son Craig. He is survived by Janet, his wife of nearly 58 years, son Grant, Daughters-in-law Juliette Brians of Hollister and Jessica Folkart of Blacksburg,Virginia, Grandchildren Ruth Ondelacy, Martha Brians, Coy-Anthony Brians, Zachary Brians and Benjamin Brians, Nicholas Brians, and Luke Brians, as well as his first four Great-Grandchildren. Born 4 December 1929 as an only child to Enoch John Brians and Ruth Schnorr Brians at the old hospital in Salinas, California, his father's family had emigrated from Missouri and settled in Sonoma County in the early 1840's when California was part of Mexico. His parents moved to Salinas in 1927. He was raised in Salinas in the old part of town in very modest circumstances and graduated from Salinas High School in 1948. He enlisted in the National Guard and served in Georgia, Florida and California. He graduated from Hartnell College in Salinas with a focus in Electronics. With his interest in the engineering of electronics, by 1953 when he was employed by AT&T, he was working with their very first computers. He worked at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in the 1950's, also working with computers. These experiences with computer technology started his six decades of computer experiences. While working on his Bachelors degree at UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University, he met the love of his life Janet and they married in 1958. He earned his lifetime teaching credential and he started professional teaching in 1961 at Culver City High School as their Physics teacher. In 1963 he arranged for the donation of, operation of and teaching with the first computer in a Southern California High School. In subsequent years he taught and performed course development at Pepperdine University, major computer companies, Lawrence Livermore Labs,startups, his own company, public schools and private schools, as well as tutoring Hollister teens and adults. He was always happiest in a classroom when students had their Eureka moments and they got it! He traveled the US and the world in his professional career, not minding International air travel in the time when it was pretty special, but always preferring driving here in the US. Along with the love of teaching, came the love of debate, playing games and being a master storyteller. The storytelling started as an aid to teaching, but when he had children he started telling amazing stories that he created extemporaneously. He loved arguing with his sons and others, but always made sure to say it was debating. His younger son, Craig, loved to say that was what started him on his path into becoming a university professor of Political Science. A peculiarity that led to many interesting learning situations for Bob was his love of car travel. He drove cross country to teach classes many, many times. He would drive like a man driven to get there, but yet he stopped to check out interesting sites too. His sons enjoyed trip after trip when they were young, reaching as far away as Washington DC to the East and Tacoma Washington to the North, even going into Mexico. He had a set of friends that he kept in contact with from Hartnell College in the 1940’s until nearly the last day of his life. He was gregarious and enjoyed the people he knew from the former Trinity Lutheran Church and St. Luke's Episcopal Church here in Hollister as well as several neighbors and other local friends. He kept friendships with a number of former students until the last week of his life as well, but the last few years of his life he wanted to stay on the ranch in preference to travel. One quality that he displayed through his life was an offbeat sense of humor that encompassed puns, stories and startling openings to conversations. Despite the high value he placed on education both in educating and learning, he never looked down on those with lesser levels of education and the best way to become his friend was to be friendly and he would usually be too. Sometimes he was crotchety, but always wanted to help people when it was even remotely possible. Bob will always be missed by those who he touched. A Memorial Service will be held on Sunday, May 22nd, 2016, at 4:30 pm at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 720 Monterey St., Hollister, CA 95023