Philip A Brenner Sr – Obituary

Philip Andrew Brenner Sr. of North Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce, FL passed away on March 25, 2017 at the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in Weston, FL at the age of 74.  He had been a long-time resident of Montague, MA. Following his 2001 retirement, he moved to Florida in 2007.

Phil was born in Plymouth, MA to Andrew Brenner and Esmerelda (Borgatti) Brenner on July 18, 1942.  He graduated from Sacred Heart School in Kingston in 1960.

Phil served in the US Navy from 1961 to 1965 as a radarman, including being a member of the original operational crew that took the newly constructed USS Constellation aircraft carrier from NY to CA through the Straits of Magellan and onto its first WESTPAC tour. He also served on the USS Chicago.  He was honorably discharged with a rank of Radarman 2nd class (E-5). He always said that his time in the Navy changed him from a boy to the man he became.

Following his Navy service, Phil went to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, on the GI Bill graduating with a Bachelor’s of Science in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology in 1971. He spent his entire career working for Massachusetts Division of Fish and Wildlife as a biologist, fisheries manager, and finally as a land agent working to preserve land for hunting and fishing throughout western part of the state.

Phil lived in Montague from 1972 to 2007. During that time, he was a town meeting member and a long-time member of conservation commission. His children all went to school in Montague and he was very active in their TFHS activities. For many years he hosted float making at his home. He was a parishioner of Our Lady of Peace in Turners Falls, MA and later Holy Cross in Vero Beach, FL.

Phil loved hunting and fishing and spent as much time as he could in the woods.  He was a long-time member of the Ten-Point Club in Wardsboro, VT where he could share his passion for the outdoors with some of his close friends. Over the years he was also apt to be found boating and deep-sea fishing in Plymouth with other close friends.

Phil is survived by his wife of 48 years, Judith Brenner; his sons, Philip Jr. and his wife Sara of Oxford, PA, Matthew and his wife Lindsay of Fitchburg, MA, and Gregory and his wife Sandra of League City, TX; his grandchildren, Zoe of PA, Samuel and Andrew of MA, and Lilyanna and Sophia of TX; his sisters, Barbara Birnstein and her husband Emil of Hudson, NH, and Jeannette Tedeschi and her husband Alfred of Longmeadow, MA; and numerous nieces, nephews, and their families. There are also numerous people throughout the United States and the world whose lives he touched that considered him a second father or grandfather.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Andrew and Esmeralda, and a granddaughter, Eliza Mae.

A funeral mass will be held at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Turners Falls on Monday April 10, 2017 at 11 am immediately followed by a reception at the French King Restaurant.  Burial will occur later at the Massachusetts Veterans Cemetery in Winchendon, MA during a private ceremony for immediate family. The family will receive guest from 10am until the time of services at the church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to the Massachusetts Outdoor Heritage Foundation, a private non-profit in Massachusetts that works closely with the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) to protect and restore habitat for native species of wildlife and to enhance Mass Wildlife’s capabilities in its public and education programs for hunting, fishing, and wildlife appreciation. Tax-deductible gifts in Phil’s memory can be made via PayPal on the Foundation’s website at http://massoutdoorheritage.org, or by check mailed to P. O. Box 47, Westborough, MA 01581.

Sympathy message available at www.kostanskifuneralhome.com

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