William Dumas Brennan

December 1, 1932 - February 25, 2014
William Dumas Brennan

Gifts & Memorial Donations



William ìBillî Dumas Brennan, 81, of Flat Rock, died Tuesday, February 25, at Park Ridge Health. A native of Plattsburgh, NY, he had lived in Muskogee, OK prior to moving to Flat Rock in 2000. He received his bachelor and masterís degrees from Williams College in Williamstown, MA, a journey that began when he and a friend rode their bicycles to the school from Plattsburgh for their freshman year. Between years he hitchhiked to California for summer jobs. He received his doctorate from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago and taught there while pursuing his degree.

Since then he had worked for Addressograph-Multigraph of Cleveland, OH, American Optical Corp of Southbridge, MA, Boston Digital of Milford, MA and Coburn Optical of Muskogee, OK. He held several patents in optics as well as other fields of technology.

He enjoyed camping and sailing and built his own sailboat. Later he became an avid golfer, was a member of the Hendersonville Country Club and had attended Hendersonville First Baptist Church. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, James Tracy Brennan.

Mr. Brennan is survived by his wife of twenty years, Donna Brennan and four children, Kathy Brennan of Sterling, MA, Nancy Parker and her husband Mark of Tucson, AZ, Jim Brennan of Boise, ID and John Brennan and his wife Pat of Webster, MA as well as eight grandchildren, Jennifer, Steven, Connor, Sean, Neil, Stephanie, Scott and Brandy.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, March 1 in the chapel of Shuler Funeral Home. Dr. Wana Archer will officiate. The family will receive friends for one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Hendersonville Rescue Mission 639 Maple St. Hendersonville, NC 28792.


Purchase Flowers

Subscribe to this Obituary

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Tribute Wall

Please feel free to sign the guestbook or share a memory



Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


  • March 01, 2014
    John Brennan says:
    Dad was a great learner but also a great teacher. His framed degrees and patents document his many achievements in life, but it was his lifetime of teaching that shaped who we are today. He taught us to be excited about learning and discovering new things. I remember the time he showed us his time lapse picture of the North Star. We all rushed out to the telescope and he showed us how to see it for ourselves. Dad was interested in everything; there is no frame is large enough to hold what he taught us all.

  • March 01, 2014
    John Brennan says:
    My dad was a wonderful father and a loving grandfather. We will always have wonderful memories of him ñ especially his love of the outdoors that he shared with us on many camping trips and summers at the cabin on Silver Lake growing up. Later, when he lived closer to our family, we met for many memorable vacations throughout the Southwest. Although the miles have separated us in recent years, my kids will always remember their Grandpa Bill and I will always hold him close to my heart. My mother as well will always cherish the good memories.

  • March 01, 2014
    John Brennan says:
    I want to first let you all know how sorry I am that I can't be there in person and how hard it is to be 2000 miles away from family today. As I reflect on Dad's influence on my life, it is easy to see how I got here. I grew up the son of a science guy and I was the kind of kid that asked a lot of questions about how things worked. Dad's answers were detailed and often involved demonstrations.? My fondest memories of Dad were when we were taking something apart or putting something together. Dad was a huge fan of gadgets, especially the electronic kind. Radio Shack was one of his favorite places. When digital electronics started to be a thing, he had one of the first digital calculators. This was when digital displays were glowing red LEDs. He and I built a digital watch from a kit, and later he bought one of the first home computer kits. Then there is my 1967 Chevy II -- a real piece of junk from bumper to bumper. Dad taught me all about how cars worked as we fixed everything that went wrong with it, and that was quite a lot. It was worth all the hundred dollars I paid for it for the hours I spent with dad working on it. Men are shaped by their fathers, either a direct reflection of them or they define themselves in opposition to them. Dad's and my relationship was affected by my need to create distance and an identity apart from him. I joined the Army right out of high school, and although his science kid wasn't going off to college, he supported my choice.? When I finally made my way back to school, I found Physics was a natural home, and accepted that the academic path he modeled for me so many years ago was to be mine. One thing that Dad modeled for me, that I hope I've achieved as a parent, is that he was supportive of whatever direction we kids wanted to go.?? Well, except for that one time when he took John and me sailing on Long Lake when we were pretty little.? My brother has never had any trouble dozing off, and John fell right off the sailboat.? Bobbing along in his life jacket heading out from the boat,? dad looked at me sitting there and said very clearly, "Don't touch that rope," as he dove in after John. But that rope CALLED to me, and Dad used it to steer the boat, so I HAD to pull it just a little. The wind caught the sail and the boat started moving away, leaving Dad and John in the water. Luckily, Dad was a strong swimmer and got John back to the boat. I recall he was none too pleased. Thank you to those who made this celebration of Dad's life possible. I appreciate it and am sorry I'm not there in person to swap more stories. Love, Jim

  • March 01, 2014
    John Brennan says:
    My dad had a profound influence on me which was shaped by many events some of which I would like to share with you. I always felt protected and encouraged to learn by Dad. He could fix all kinds of things in ways I had not envisioned which I learned from. An early memory was when I was probably 3 when Dad painted the family room. When the paint dried I decided to use this freshly painted canvas to scribble on with a marker. He was not pleased with me and put a map of the moon over it until he could repaint it. As a toddler, while sailing with my Dad and my brother Jim on the Sunfish sailboat that Dad built, I decided to take a snooze and pitched over the side into the water. With my life vest kept me afloat, Dad had to dive in to get me while Jim took that moment to see what happens by pulling the sail rope. The sail filled and the boat began to move away. Dad was able to get me in the boat and regain control. Funny how I wrote this same story before I received Jim's eulogy and we both related this story! For a few years when I was about 7 and my brother 9, Dad helped us make amazing Pinewood Derby cars in Boy Scouts for the annual Pinewood Derby race. He helped us tweak our designs and distribute the weight to the point that my brother and my cars always placed in the top 3 and won trophies. He was always very proud of these. In my early 20's I decided to make a small table for my girlfriend Pat and asked Dad if I could use his workshop and tools. He not only let me use his things, he helped me pick out the Philippine mahogany wood for it. Since the table was to have a gradual curve, Dad built a gigantic compass to mark that curve on the wood. He always had a way to fix or create things which I learned from. When I was almost 24, I was watching TV with my dad at his house after he made one of his legendary barbecued steak dinners. I asked him if I could ask him a question. He said sure. I got up, turned the TV off and sat down. He looked at me knowing I had something important to ask. I told him that I wanted to ask my girlfriend Pat to marry me and don't know how this works. He absolutely lit up and was thrilled to share his advice with me. He was so happy I asked his advice and it became a unique bonding event. We would play golf Dad in the summer about every Saturday it wasn't raining. I would leave at 5 AM to Dad's house and park my car in his driveway. We would walk over to the golf course across the street from his house and wait for the okay to be the first ones out in the morning. We had the entire course to ourselves and rarely had anyone right behind us. Just my Dad and I with the golf course to ourselves. Dad loved receiving report cards from his grand children Jennifer, Steven and Connor and cherished time he spent with them as their grandfather. He was always proud of me and always stressed the importance of hard work and the satisfaction from accomplishing sometimes daunting tasks. He often said he had done the same when he was my age providing for his family. It's much easier being a good father yourself when you know you were led by such an intelligent, warm, generous man. He has left a truly remarkable legacy and I feel privileged that he was my father.

  • February 28, 2014
    Mr & Mrs Scott DeFazio says:
    Dear Donna & family, We were so so sorry to hear of Billy's passing. What a wonderful man he was. Always the consumate gentleman & always a smile on his face. We will not be able to attend his service. However all of you will be in our thoughts. Scott & Renee.