Leo Moya

Tod Burnett

Brian Bennett

Kelly Fountain    (Sister)

Brian O’Leary Bennett
1955-2025

Brian O’Leary Bennett, beloved son, brother, uncle, cousin, and friend passed away on March 10, 2025, at his home in Palm Springs, California.

He was born on December 5, 1955, in Glendale, Queens, New York to Barbara and Robert Bennett.  He is survived by his mother, two sisters, two brothers and his cherished dog. The family was raised in Merrick, N.Y. and lived on the same street as his sixteen cousins, all with the same last name.  Throughout his life Brian loved the nostalgia of having grown up with all his cousins and the memories they shared.

Brian graduated from Sanford H. Calhoun High School in Merrick, N.Y., received a B.A. in Economics from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and received his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles, California.

Brian always had a strong interest in politics and after high school he went to D.C. to work as a Legislative Caseworker for U.S. Senator James L. Buckley (R-NY) from 1973 to 1977.  He then began his long career and friendship with Congressman Robert K. Dornan (R-CA-27th C.D.) in 1977, serving as his Legislative Assistant in D.C. for one year then as his Chief Field Deputy in Los Angeles, CA until 1983 when he was appointed by Governor Deukmejian (R-CA) as the Special Assistant to the Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development.  He didn’t stay there long, returning to Congressman Dornan in 1984 to serve as his Chief of Staff and Campaign Manager for the 38th C.D. in Washington, D.C. and Orange County, CA until 1989.

Throughout his time in Congress, Brian was particularly proud of his work overseas, having traveled to more than 45 different countries on official congressional business and meeting with foreign ministers, presidents, other foreign government officials, ambassadors, opposition party leaders, and business, community, human rights, religious, and resistance leaders. Some of his visits included:

Leading a congressional staff delegation to Vietnam;
Visiting eight of the then-ten U.S. combatant commands around the world and other American military bases;
Serving as an official observer to the 1985 congressional elections in El Salvador;
Accompanying Congressman Dornan to Damascus, Syria for meetings with President Hafez Assad on behalf of American hostages held in Lebanon in 1986;
Examining relief efforts in Ethiopia and drug activities in the Golden Triangle of northern Thailand; and
Twice visiting Vietnamese an Cambodian refugee camps resistance military bases along the Thai-Cambodian border.

After working in government and politics for over 12 years, Brian joined Edison International (EIX) and Southern California Edison (SCE) from 1989 to 2003 where he served as Vice President & Director of SCE Strategic Initiatives, Vice President of EIX and SCE External Affairs & Corporate Communications, Vice President of SCE Corporate Public Affairs, Corporate Manager of SCE Municipal Government Relations, and Director of SCE Government & Community Affairs.  From 2004 until his retirement, Brian was a consultant specializing in energy, communications/crisis management, and political and government affairs.

It was also during this period that Brian was an activist and leader in the Republican Party and later for gay rights.  Brian was a California Delegate to the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Republican National Conventions, Delegate to the California State Republican Party (1978-2005), and Member of the California State Republican Party Executive Committee (1999-2005). In 1997, Brian made national news when he officially came out as gay and spent many years advocating for gay rights in the Republican Party.  On April 13, 2000, Brian was a member of the “Austin 12”, the first group of gay and lesbian Republicans ever invited to meet with Governor George W. Bush, the presumptive Republican nominee for president. That year he also was a national co-founder and Vice Chair of the Republican Unity Coalition, a national gay/straight alliance of Republican leaders featuring co-chairs Gerald Ford, David Rockefeller, and John Danforth.

Brian dedicated many years to the gay and lesbian community. He served on the board of directors for Equality California and for the Gay & Lesbian Center of Long Beach and was a member of the Human Rights Campaign.  He won several awards and recognitions for his advocacy, and he was profiled at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival in the documentary Family Fundamentals which was also aired on PBS in 2003 and shown at other film festivals across the nation.  In 2004, the OC Weekly named Brian the “Best Gay Republican” and Out Magazine listed him as 100 of the Most Influential Newsmakers in 1997.

Brian also served the community in other ways.  He was a devout Catholic and defender of unborn children’s rights, and proud member of the California Pro-Life Council and Pro-Life PAC of Orange County.  He served on several community boards including the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, World Affairs Council of Orange County, Orange County Public Affairs Association, and Urban League of Orange County.  He also served as an Orange County Reserve Deputy Sheriff.

Brian was a regular contributor to major publications, authoring op-eds and other pieces for the Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register, San Francisco Chronicle, and more. He was also a regular guest speaker at colleges and universities and panels across the nation.

Throughout his life, Brian touched many lives and built deep lasting connections both personally and professionally. His commitment to family, friends, and colleagues kept him special in their eyes and set him apart from the rest. He was selfless and generous and went above and beyond for everyone, especially for those in need. He was always there to help and give his time for the success of others. He had a unique gift of making those he cared about feel important and loved, especially the children of his family and friends. He was a fun uncle, enjoyed good conversation, and loved to travel. Words that were used to describe Brian were intelligent, friendly, thoughtful, passionate, generous, humorous, adventurous, and fun loving.

Brian lived a full and accomplished life, and he will be missed terribly by all who knew and loved him.

The family asks that donations in Brian’s memory be made to the LGBTQ Center Long Beach at www.centerlb.org.

When words can't fully express what we want to say, sometimes a small gift can. Visit our Memorial Store for personalized gifts, keepsake jewelry and to plant a memorial tree.

We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and analyze site traffic.
<privacyLink>Privacy Policy</privacyLink>.

<firstParagraph>We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience.</secondParagraph>

<firstParagraph>We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.</firstParagraph><secondParagraph>The cookies that are categorized as 'Necessary' are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site.</secondParagraph>

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

Analytics

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

Functional

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

Necessary

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

Performance

Customize Cookie Preferences

Verification Successful!

New Message

The following files could not be uploaded

Ways you can honor {memorialName}'s memory:

Donation Link

Upcoming Event

Featured Mementos

Welcome Message

Select an item to highlight

Add a highlighted item

Customize which items you’d like to highlight on the memorial

Create Account

Become a Keeper

As a free {brandName} user, you will only be able to make 5 photos and videos public.

As a free {brandName} user, only the first five (5) Mementos are visible to page visitors. You can change which Mementos are public by dragging and dropping a photo or video to one of the first five positions. Upgrading to {brandName} Plus will make all 10 Mementos selected visible to the public.

All Mementos

This option is only available to Keeper Plus users.

To allow yourself and the rest of the community to view all images and videos, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of these mementos, upgrade your account to Keeper Plus.

This memento is not visible to visitors

Your community has posted {itemCount} more pictures and videos that honor {firstName}'s memory. To view them all, and to enable everyone to download their own copy of each, this account will need to upgrade to Keeper Plus.

View all images and videos with Keeper Plus

Our Obituary Assistant helps you craft a meaningful life story in minutes. Review and edit every detail, and unlock more features with Keeper Plus.

Obituary Assistant

Spend as much time as you need working on your Memorial page before it is visible to the public, and much more, when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Save Page as Draft

Create unlimited event pages and unlock a suite of powerful features to help you seamlessly coordinate event details, invites, and more when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Event

Create a full picture of your loved one’s community and add unlimited family and friends to Loved Ones when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Loved One

Create unlimited Memorials — and unlock unlimited images and videos, event pages, and advanced privacy settings — to help you keep memories alive when you upgrade to Keeper Plus.

Memorial Page

Add unlimited Stories to highlight the all the things that made your loved one unique, from milestones, images, albums, documents, locations, and much more.

Highlight Stories

Upgrading to Keeper Plus means you can add additional Keepers to help you gather Mementos and tributes, approve content, build out a family tree, and tell {firstName}' story on Keeper.

Invite Keepers with Keeper Plus

Upload and display unlimited photos and videos, use unlimited Story templates to highlight key moments, and allow friends and family to download their own copies when you upgrade to Keeper Plus. 

Better Mementos with Keeper Plus

To access memorial related configurations that control the display of the banner upgrade to Keeper Plus.

This configuration  is not available on your current plan

Create a meaningful link path to add a personal touch to {firstName}'s memorial.

Custom Memorial link

Gift Messages

SENDING AS A GIFT?

Cart

About 1-800 Flowers

"Flowers were beautiful and they arrived in time before the funeral. Thank you and will purchase more in the future.!"

Hearing Tears

"Beautiful flowers, I've always enjoyed sending them to my love ones for sympathy and they have always love them very much Thanks for making people feel good when receiving them."

Sympathy

"This was true to the photo and good to know family took arrangement after the service."

Beautiful arrangement.  Perfect size for service.

Some of the great things our customers say about us

We're here to make it a little easier, with thoughtful gifts for the services & home, along with expert advice on how to be there during a difficult time.

Flowers

Gift Baskets

Express Your Deepest Sympathy

About Us

Perfect Condolence Gift

No one is meant to grieve alone

Peace and love

Product is made, packaged, and sent with love

Keepsakes

How to add your gift message

Packaging Information

Shipping information

Add a Personalized Charm to the Ornament:

Other Keepsakes

Install KeeperQR onto any headstone, urn, or other memorial in minutes.

Install

Use your phone or tablet to scan the unique code — no other tools required!

Scan

All three of our elegant KeeperQR designs are printed using durable, weather-resistant aluminum designed for indoors and outdoor use on headstones and urns, memorial benches and trees, or other monuments to your loved one’s life

Built to Last

Get <discount>50% off</discount> Keeper Plus with your KeeperQR purchase

Keeper Basic

Learn About Our Plans

Connect the physical and digital worlds to share your loved one’s life story with friends and family, no matter where they are.

KeeperQR Memorial QR Code Plaques

Planting a memorial tree or bereavement tree is a unique, environmentally conscious way to pay tribute and honor the memory of your loved one. Keeper Memorials is supporting American Forests to plant whitebark pine trees as well as thornscrub trees in select regions of the US and Canada.

Memorial Trees

KeeperQR is designed to pair seamlessly with a Keeper digital memorial. Use our FREE intuitive tools to create biographies, maps, and timelines, share photos and videos, and more with customizable features built to commemorate your loved one’s life’s story.

Powered by Keeper

Lifetime without any hidden costs or subscription traps

One time payment

Keeper is SOC2 compliant, keeping your memories safe and secure.

Data protection guaranteed

We bring your QR Codes to any corner of the globe

Worldwide Shipping

Our durable and beautiful QR code plaques create seamless connection between your loved one’s physical memorial and their digital memorial, allowing visitors to their final resting place instant access to their life legacy.

Memorial.

Honor their memory, share their story

A KeeperQR is a weather-resistant plaque with a custom QR code that links directly to your loved one’s digital memorial. When placed on a headstone, urn, bench, or tree, it allows friends and family to scan and view their life story instantly

What is a KeeperQR?

They’re built to withstand outdoor elements and adhere to most surfaces.

Where can I place the KeeperQR?

How does it work?

Frequently asked questions

KeeperQR

E-Certificate Design

Plant Memorial Trees as a Living Tribute

BRAZIL

CANADA

FLORIDA

OREGON

Memorial Project Reach

Memorial trees start at {price} per tree, with discounts for multiple trees

Our Commitment

Gift Baskets & Food

Keeper Plus

QR Plaques

Keepers Featured Products

A Greener Way to Remember

Learn about our Partners:

Help Us Complete Your Order

Remembrance Store

Through your unique link, your client can sign up for Keeper and create a Memorial for a loved one. When the Memorial page is completed by the family, it will appear on your microsite and website. You will be the main Keeper Administrator of the Memorial, along with the family member that created the page.

Invite Your Clients to Create a Memorial

Invite Families

Your Email Notifications

Notifications

Email Unsubscribe Settings

Other Settings

With your active Keeper PLUS subscription, you get unlimited access to a suite of powerful features:

Allow visitors to download a local copy of all images and videos.

Download Media

Create a custom and meaningful URL, unique to your loved one, for each Memorial page.

Editable URL

Plan public or private events and invite your loved ones.

Event Pages

Add images and create profile pages to illustrate the history and genealogy of your loved one.

Family Tree

Invite unlimited administrators to help you manage every Memorial page you have.

Keeper Administrators

Visitors enjoy unrestricted access to all uploaded images and videos.

Unlimited Media

Create unlimited Memorial pages for your loved ones.

Memorial Pages

You will be able to upload Full HD videos instead of embedded links.

Video Uploading

Your Profile

Add a business user

Edit a business user

Are you sure you want to delete these users from these brands? You will need to manually add these users again.

If the user is a part of multiple brands, you will have to delete the user from each one individually

Delete Users from Brands?

Users Settings & Notifications

Users

Are you sure you want to delete these users? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Are you sure you want to delete this user? This action will revoke their privileges across all brands.

Delete Users from all Brands?

Delete User from Brand?

Are you sure you want to delete {totalDeletes} from this user?

Delete Roles from this User?

Are you sure you want to delete this user from this brand? You will need to manually add this user again.

Delete User from this Brand?

Requires users to confirm their email every time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned OFF, Guest users do not need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published.

When Email Tribute Validation is turned ON, Guest users will need to confirm their email address before their tribute is published. They will receive an email with a confirmation link they must click.

Requires users to confirm their email only the first time they would like to share a tribute on a Memorial page.

Email Tribute Validation

If Flagged Content is turned OFF, content that has been flagged will remain public until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

If Flagged Content is turned ON, content that has been flagged will be hidden until they have been Approved or Removed from the Requests Center.

Hide Flagged Content

Language

Email Notifications

Are you sure you want to delete the Memorial for {name}? This action will permanently remove the memorial from the system.

Delete Memorial?

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned OFF, Memorials will automatically be published.

When Memorial Request Moderation is turned ON, Memorials will only be published if and when you approve them. Memorials can be published or deleted in the Requests center.

Memorial Request Moderation

Moderation Settings

This will permanently delete your account. The business account, and business page will not be deleted. To deactivate your account, there must be another admin user assigned to your organization.

Are you sure you want to deactivate this account?

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, the tribute moderation settings on Memorial pages will be hidden and other Keepers cannot override the tribute moderation settings specified by your organization.

When Override Tribute Moderation is turned ON, other Keepers can view and change the tribute moderation settings of the Memorial pages they manage. (Each Memorial page will default to the organization’s tribute moderation setting upon creation.) 

Override Tribute Moderation

If the AI Content Moderation is OFF, text areas containing profane language will be published.  Tributes can however be flagged and removed at any time.

If the AI Content Moderation is ON, text areas containing profane language will not be published and the user will receive an error message.

AI Content Moderation

When Tribute Moderation is turned OFF, Tributes will automatically be published. Once published, users can flag inappropriate or spam content. You can instantly delete any Tributes published on a Memorial that you administer.

When Tribute Moderation is turned ON, Tributes will only be published if and when you approve them. Tributes can be approved or rejected in the Requests center.

Brian Bennett Obituary | Keeper Memorials