Justin Petersen Brindley, born May 7, 1978, died June 20, 2008, while rafting with Cassius, his Boxer-Lab companion, on the upper Colorado River gorge near Vail, Colorado. A graduate of Clements High School, he received his Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Methodist University in 2001 and his Masters of Business Administration from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business last month.

Justin embraced life with a passion, was a “people” person who never met a stranger, made friends wherever he went, found good in everyone, and lived by the philosophy adopted from a Ralph Waldo Emerson saying,

“Do not go where the path may lead;
go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

An avid outdoorsman, sportsman, and adventurer, he enjoyed mountain climbing, surfing, wind surfing, skiing, snowboarding, skateboarding, road and mountain biking, camping, hiking, fly fishing, and rafting. At the age of five he climbed Guadalupe Peak, the highest peak in Texas, and in recent years had summited three Colorado Mountains of 14,000 feet or more, Mount Yale, Shavano, and Harvard. He was a competitive sailor who raced in numerous offshore events—usually placing and often winning first—including Harvest Moon Regattas to Port Aransas, two to Vera Cruz, Mexico, and one to Biloxi, Mississippi, during tropical depression Allison where he steered the boat through the dense pack of oil production rigs off Louisiana in driving horizontal rain at night.

An inveterate traveler, Justin could say, “I am a small cat,” in more than twelve languages. He had recently returned from China on a real estate trip that he arranged in conjunction with his MBA program and he had traveled to Russia, Poland, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Columbia, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, England, India, and Bangladesh for both business and pleasure.

Justin is survived by his fiancé of six years, Kelly Gallogly of Houston; their wedding was scheduled for September 20 in Carmel, California. He is also survived by his parents Valerie and Bob Brindley, sisters Brittany and Kimberly, grandparents Charlene and Glen Hoover, and numerous uncles and cousins; his grandparents Howard and Helen Brindley, and William Jeffers pre-decease him.

A celebration of Justin’s life will be held at the Settegast–Kopf Funeral Home, 15015 Southwest Freeway in Sugar Land on Friday, June 27, 2008, at 2:00 p.m.

For those desiring to honor Justin, memorials may be made to Citizens for Animal Protection, 11925 Katy Freeway, Houston 77079; the SPCA of Houston, 900 Portway Dr., Houston 77024; or a charity of your choice.

-Boulder Daily Camera