Michael Doland reports that our good friend and classmate, Dan Brenner, was hit and killed by a car while walking across Beverwil, yesterday, February 15, 2016.
I saw and chatted with Dan at the reunion only six months ago, for the first time since the 10 year reunion in 1979. Although I did not know him extremely well in high school, we both remembered each other immediately. Terribly shocked to hear of his sudden death. Good-bye, Dan.
With the sudden deaths of Geoff Shlaes and now Danny Brenner in 2016, there is no time like the present to let the people near and dear to you know that they matter. As we are seeing, life can be over in an instant! Glad to have made meaningful contact with Geoff and Danny at Roxbury Park last summer.
I started a note a day ago but couldn't really express how hard first Geoff's and now Danny's has hit home. Being far away from all of you (Santa Fe) the connections aren't as immediate and frequent, but there is something about the home town ties that remain strong even when it is years in between seeing folks. So then when people with whom I was very close for very long, pass it is stunning how much it hurts. Condolences to the family and to all of you back home who I know are really wrestling with this. RIP.
Awful news. With all of his judicial accomplishments he always wanted to be a TV Weatherman! I will miss his wonderful sense of humor. We always laughed doing the mock interviews at the reunions. What a terrible loss. Rest in Peace, Danny.
I have a vivid memory of connecting with Danny at the reunion a year and a half ago. That unforgettable warm smile. That handsome, intelligent kind face. That cute sense of humor. I am saddened and shocked by the news of his death. I send prayers and condolences to his family and those close to him. What a loss.
Dan studied Torah every Saturday morning at the synagogue which his family attended and where he and his brothers had been Bar Mitzvah - Temple Isaiah on Pico near Beverly Glen. I have just learned that Temple Isaiah has established a Torah study fund honoring Dan, who was respected and well liked by his study group, the clergy and the congregation, A contribution can be made via the following link: https://templei.wufoo.com/forms/z7x0z9/
I did not know dan Brenner at all, but I do remember that he always had a huge smile on his face. That is what I know about dan. not a bad memory. Why do the kind, gentle souls go way to soon?
Danny was voted Most Loquacious in our High School Yearbook. That was apt. We reconnected when he and I found ourselves performing standup on the same night at Garvin’s Laugh Inn in Washington DC. His day job was as an FCC attorney; I was a National Endowment for the Arts fellow working on the 1980 World Puppetry Festival. Danny would work the comedy club crowd with his natural loquaciousness. I channeled my humor through a loquacious Muppet style puppet. Standup was pretty easy in DC. Most of the crowd worked for the federal government; one could always count on a laugh poking fun at bureaucracy. Danny and I had a lot of that kind of material. After one gig, Danny talked about giving up law and going into stand up full time. I advised him to keep his day job.
I was and am introverted – didn’t know anybody when my family got to L.A. -- and Danny was the first classmate at Beverly Vista to befriend me. It was during a summer theater workshop where we were putting on a play. Danny naturally was on every committee – Publicity, Marketing, Stage Crew, etc. -- and I had a part in the play.
We know life is a terminal journey. But Danny’s terminated too soon. And that's no joke.
Deborah (Georgia) Jones (Davis)
I am so sad to learn of the passing of Dan Brenner -- what a kind and wonderful soul!
Marc Russell
I saw and chatted with Dan at the reunion only six months ago, for the first time since the 10 year reunion in 1979. Although I did not know him extremely well in high school, we both remembered each other immediately. Terribly shocked to hear of his sudden death. Good-bye, Dan.
Laurence Cohen (Finley)
With the sudden deaths of Geoff Shlaes and now Danny Brenner in 2016, there is no time like the present to let the people near and dear to you know that they matter. As we are seeing, life can be over in an instant! Glad to have made meaningful contact with Geoff and Danny at Roxbury Park last summer.
Paul Gibson
I started a note a day ago but couldn't really express how hard first Geoff's and now Danny's has hit home. Being far away from all of you (Santa Fe) the connections aren't as immediate and frequent, but there is something about the home town ties that remain strong even when it is years in between seeing folks. So then when people with whom I was very close for very long, pass it is stunning how much it hurts. Condolences to the family and to all of you back home who I know are really wrestling with this. RIP.
Jeffrey Wald
Awful news. With all of his judicial accomplishments he always wanted to be a TV Weatherman! I will miss his wonderful sense of humor. We always laughed doing the mock interviews at the reunions. What a terrible loss. Rest in Peace, Danny.
Laura Ornest (Ornest-Leslie)
I have a vivid memory of connecting with Danny at the reunion a year and a half ago. That unforgettable warm smile. That handsome, intelligent kind face. That cute sense of humor. I am saddened and shocked by the news of his death. I send prayers and condolences to his family and those close to him. What a loss.
Douglas Erenberg
We love Danny Brenner. RIP.
Michael Doland
Dan studied Torah every Saturday morning at the synagogue which his family attended and where he and his brothers had been Bar Mitzvah - Temple Isaiah on Pico near Beverly Glen. I have just learned that Temple Isaiah has established a Torah study fund honoring Dan, who was respected and well liked by his study group, the clergy and the congregation, A contribution can be made via the following link: https://templei.wufoo.com/forms/z7x0z9/
Laura Epps
I did not know dan Brenner at all, but I do remember that he always had a huge smile on his face. That is what I know about dan. not a bad memory. Why do the kind, gentle souls go way to soon?
Laura
Burt Geller
Danny was voted Most Loquacious in our High School Yearbook. That was apt. We reconnected when he and I found ourselves performing standup on the same night at Garvin’s Laugh Inn in Washington DC. His day job was as an FCC attorney; I was a National Endowment for the Arts fellow working on the 1980 World Puppetry Festival. Danny would work the comedy club crowd with his natural loquaciousness. I channeled my humor through a loquacious Muppet style puppet. Standup was pretty easy in DC. Most of the crowd worked for the federal government; one could always count on a laugh poking fun at bureaucracy. Danny and I had a lot of that kind of material. After one gig, Danny talked about giving up law and going into stand up full time. I advised him to keep his day job.
I was and am introverted – didn’t know anybody when my family got to L.A. -- and Danny was the first classmate at Beverly Vista to befriend me. It was during a summer theater workshop where we were putting on a play. Danny naturally was on every committee – Publicity, Marketing, Stage Crew, etc. -- and I had a part in the play.
We know life is a terminal journey. But Danny’s terminated too soon. And that's no joke.