We all know that none of us are going to get out of this adventure alive. Brian knew it all too well as of January 21, 1999, Jean's birthday. He said to her that day, "It's a birthday present you won't forget anyway."
Brian and all of us were offered a glimmer of hope through chemotherapy. Brian said he was willing to fight it out, to not give up, to see it through.
That's what Brian was all his life: a fighter who saw it through. I suppose growing up in a family of ten, you have to be just to survive the dinner table.
His early days in Ottawa saw lots of turbulence and excitment. His dad, Tot O'Regan, was enough to keep any family excited about life - the ups and the downs. From magic and vaudeville to moving around town a lot: 15 moves in 10 years, 60 jobs in 40 years.
Brian was equal to the challenge that turbulence presented. He saw action in the second war at Juno Beach, Normandy, June 6, 1944 as a despatch rider with the Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit. He not only survived the invasion well but landed on his feet more than once by rescuing a can of film shot by Sgt. Bill Grant that scooped the world as the first newsreel footage of the invasion seen in London and New York, by being the subject of another picture scoop (he was the lone Canadian soldier with arms around two Russian soldiers at the Elbe River Link up, 1945) seen around the world including all through Russia even to this day,
(Unidentified Russian
Soldiers &
Gnr. Brian O'Regan, Elbe River Link-Up)
by being photographed as the first Canadian to enter Dieppe after the Invasion - mind you all you saw was his back, racing down the road into Dieppe on a Matchless motorcycle.
That motorcycle eventually helped him get married to Jean. It had seen a great deal of action and ultimately held together with chewing gum to plug bullet and shrapnel holes in the fuel tanks and wire for the rest of it. It had become second nature to him like another appendage. When it finally broke down, he was put onto a big BSA. Riding down a rainy and slippery cobblestone street at 70mph, the BSA started to drift into the gutter. With his old Matchless, all you had to do was kick it and it would straighten up. So he kicked it and it straightened up for about a second or two then drifted again, caught the gutter and fell over. Brian had a different kind of joy ride at 70 mph, sliding down the cobblestone road. Two things saved him: his leather boots and heavy breeches and his Colt 45 which he wore on his left side. When the bike came to a halt, he pulled it off the side of the road, sat down next to a tree and passed out. He woke up in a hospital. His knee had been split to the bone. The bone in his gun had been shaved off and the metal ground to a knife-like sharpness - that gun saved his hip. The doctor walked by and congratulated him, "So, Canada, "he said, "It looks like you're going home." "No sir, "Brian replied, "I've got to get married in a month. I'm going to England." And he managed to get there and marry Jean.
(Jean & Brian
O'Regan, 1945)
The war saw Brian's first forays into the field of public relations.
Public Relations is kind of a management of turbulence itself. Brian was good at it, very good at it. After the war, he and his family moved quite a bit too: Ottawa, Winnipeg, Germany, England, Israel and Egypt. In Israel, in '62, he took after his old man and produced a show that toured UN military installations entertaining the troops. Good PR.
The 60's and 70's were turbulent times too - cultural and counter-cultural revolutions and labour unrest. By now in government, Brian saw a heavy work load as senior executive of public affairs with Immigration, Agriculture and Labour - long hours and satisfied ministers. Good PR.
When I managed to defend my M.A Thesis on liturgical performance, he commented to one of my advisors: that's just good communications theory. Good PR.
At a time when Brian thought he'd get out of it all - too much work, not enough pay - he fully expected to jump into the turbulence of real estate sales. But he got a call. From Northern Electric, a medium sized company doing well under $1B in sales worldwide. He created a Public Affairs sector for Northern Telecom (he saw the name change) with a corporate Vice Presidency which he was eventually first to fill. In his first year, he saved the company $5M. NorTel does pretty well today with billions in sales worldwide. Good PR.
When he retired from PR, in 1987, he really got down to work. I think all the turbulence he had experienced in his life sent him looking for solidity and that turned him to genealogy. I think he was probably a little ahead of his time for in the 90's genealogy has blossomed into a major cultural pursuit. He had a wealth of stories and information to track down within his own family. He went looking for roots in Ireland, the UK, Asia-Pacific, Canada and the US and he found them. Lots of them. And he began to let people know about it. That Good PR stuff is hard to ignore.
Of course, in his travels, Jean was a constant companion - and she doesn't like to fly. Often times, she was left to her own devices while Brian trudged to graveyards and archives looking for O'Regans. On the plus side, Brian was careful to look for Higginsons too. Good PR.
(Jean & Brian O'Regan, 1997)He helped found the British Isles Family History Society of Greater Ottawa. He helped maintain his Battery Reunions, our Canadian Warco association, the Canadian Public Relations Society (of which he was president of the Ottawa Branch too). And just when one thought that this search for roots had settled, along came the ultimate chaos and turbulence of the Internet and Brian was instantly on it through an unending succession of the latest in computer technology. A whole new world opened up allowing him to spread the news about genealogy and to interact with many who found his advice invaluable. His frequent stints on Radio Noon later Ontario Today as genealogy expert led people from all over Ontario, Canada and the world to e-mail, phone and write for his advice on how to get started. Good PR.
Throughout, he supported his sons in whatever they wanted to pursue. Did he see in Philip's cartography, football playing and hockey coaching his own love of design, sport and mentoring? Did he see in my acting and producing a bit of his father and his own sense of showmanship. And where he put his mouth, he also put his money. All of it was encouraging. Good PR for us.
Brian O'Regan, a whirlwind of activity, lover and friend to Jean, father, mentor and a little bit of a hero to his sons - Phil and I ain't sliding down no cobblestone road at 70mph. Macaroni grampa and benefactor to his grandchildren.
We shall miss him and remember him and pray that this day he be in paradise.