Bryan Thomas Staehnke

Bryan Thomas Staehnke

On the evening of September 23, 2016 at 9:30 p.m., Bryan passed away at his and Libby’s home in Dehesa, California. Bryan was 36 years. Old.

Bryan was born in San Diego, California on May 24, 1980 at 6:20 p.m. Bryan is the third child and the second son of Alan & Kathy Staehnke. He leaves behind his beloved parents, Alan & Kathy, his sister Krissy and her husband, Ralph, his brother, Jason, nieces Kathleen, Elizabeth, Victoria, Samantha and Audrey. He also leaves behind his fiancé, Libby Plummer as well as many aunts, uncles, cousins and a grandfather.

Bryan grew up mostly in the Clairemont area of San Diego. He attended Field Elementary School, Kroc Junior High and Madison High School where he graduated in June of 1998.

During his youth Bryan was an active young man, playing baseball, football, soccer and he received numerous awards and trophies while playing these sports. Bryan was also involved in the ROTC program. Bryan lettered in football while attending Madison High School. Bryan loved football and he had a strong connection with his teammates and especially Coach Radovich and his family, who became like a second family to him. Bryan played positions of offense, defense, but mostly played center. Bryan had the respect and admiration of not only his teammates, but the fans as well. Clairemont is a tight-knit community and Friday night football games brought everyone even closer.

During his years of playing football and baseball, Bryan made numerous friends. He remained good friends with them all throughout his life, going camping and keeping in touch through Facebook. During his years of baseball, Bryan developed a strong friendship with Derek King, the son of John and Jennifer King. John King coached Bryan many years while playing baseball and the Kings were also like a second family to Bryan.

While growing up, Bryan’s family were avid desert enthusiasts. The family went camping in the desert every chance they got and this helped to contribute to Bryan’s love of the outdoors, camping and riding toys.

After high school Bryan went to work for his parent’s plumbing business and worked with them on and off until 2003, when his parents moved to Arizona. Bryan followed his parents soon thereafter to Arizona to be near them and to work. Arizona did not hold a candle to the beaches and waters of California and Bryan’s heart yearned to be back home, so he moved back in 2008.

Later that year, Bryan suffered a stroke, blood clot and as a result also suffered a heart attack. It was severe enough that he had to undergo open heart surgery. Bryan and his parents stayed in San Diego at the home of their good friends, Adolph and Linda Jennings, while recuperating. When he was healthy enough to travel his parents took him back to Arizona to further recuperate. Bryan remained in Arizona until 2010 when he returned to San Diego County. Bryan took up residence in Alpine, where his brother Jason and two nieces lived. About two years later, Bryan moved to Dehesa, California and remained there until his untimely death.

Bryan found the love of his life, Libby Plummer in 2013. Yes, Libby had found her plumber and Bryan had found his. Bryan and Libby originally met while in high school and reconnected and started dating around three years ago. Bryan proposed to Libby on New Year’s Day and she said yes. No wedding date had been set.

Bryan loved life. Bryan loved his family, Libby, his fiancé, his friends, his animals. His love of life included the outdoors, sports, trips to the desert, camping, riding his buggy, dirt bikes, gardening…but he lived for going fishing. Bryan, his dad and his brother, and a multitude of friends spent many weekends out on the water fishing and enjoying each other’s company and camaraderie...as well as the usual competition of “who caught the biggest fish” contest. Bryan had a zest for life and was willing to take on anything that would offer a challenge.

Bryan also has one of the biggest hearts of anyone you will ever meet. If anyone, at any time, ever needed a hand, Bryan would always extend his hand to help. His generous nature was one of his best attributes and one of the reasons he is so well loved. Bryan loved helping others, volunteering his time to charitable organizations and just being an all-around good soul.

Bryan was also very mischievousness, as all of us know very well. Bryan loved to joke around, pull pranks, and those that knew him well, would oft times know something was up because he had a look in those blue eyes and a quirky smirk that would cross his lips and you never really knew what he had planned or up his sleeve.

Growing up, Bryan kept his parents extremely busy as they tried to reign in his energy! Bryan and his buddy, Chris Strong, used to come back from playing outside looking guilty as sin. As Kathy knew the boys very well, Kathy would trick the boys into confessing whatever they had been up to, making it seem like she knew what they were up to all along. Because of this, Chris came to think Bryan’s mom had ESP.

On one occasion Bryan plugged up the toilets at his grade school and when he was finished having his fun, he casually left his father’s business card behind for whomever found the mess – after all he was just trying to drum up business for his dad! When Kathy and Al were called to the school to check out what Bryan had done, the principal and maintenance could barely keep a straight face when telling the story. Even in trouble, Bryan had a way of winning hearts.

On another occasion, Bryan and a neighborhood girl decided they would help the mailman. But their idea of help turned out to be not helpful at all. They followed the mailman along his route taking the mail out of the mailboxes after the mailman put it in. Kathy and Al heard this from a neighbor and found that Bryan and the little girl had taken all the mail and torn it up, thinking they were helping the mailman. There were checks, bills, important papers, and it was a real mess. Kathy and Al had to take Bryan to all the houses so they could return their mail and explain why it was torn open.

On another occasion, Kathy and Al went to a parent-teacher conference to be met with a somewhat surprised teacher. During the introduction it came to light that Bryan had shared that his parents were separated and were getting a divorce. Why, you ask would Bryan say such a thing? Well, he had it in his head that he could get free school lunches. His plan was to pocket the money his parents gave him for lunch and eat free at school.

Bryan’s immediate family, and his Libby, would like to thank everyone for all of their heartfelt prayers and support throughout this difficult time. It is through reading all of your notes, recollections of times spent with Bryan, and sharing all of the funny stories about Bryan that have helped us all cope with our loss.

As special thank you to Pastor Brian Daly, the American Legion Motorcycle Club, Bubba’s B-B-Q in La Jolla and Flinn Springs Inn located at 15505 Olde Hwy. 80, El Cajon, California 92101 for your contributions in making our son’s celebration of life easier on his family and making this painful time bearable.