Thomas Bergan Brown

WILTON - Thomas Bergan Brown loved his family and his friends and led a life cultivating those relationships and cherishing the experiences he shared with the people he loved. Bergan died on Easter Sunday April 17, 2022, surrounded by his family, just eight days after his 57th birthday and a valiant battle with pancreatic cancer.

Love is what mattered most to Bergan and the love he had for his sons Owen and Devin reached a depth he did not know he could experience. The number one joy in his life was watching Owen and Devin grow, laugh, and mature. He once said he was born to be a dad and the reason he knew it, he said, was because he felt so happy and natural in that role.

His best experiences were always the ones he shared with Amy, Owen and Devin, and one of their labs, Lucy or Brownie.

Bergan felt blessed and privileged to be a member of many families - his immediate family, his sibling family, his college family from SUNY Plattsburgh, his Grateful Dead family, his McGregor family and Brown Brothers, where their workers were treated like family. He made genuine connections and so many people were touched by his love and kindness.

Bergan spent his working years in business with his brother and felt lucky to have such a wonderful, loving partner in Mike. He also worked with Kearney Brown Real Estate.

Basketball was one of his passions. He played in the backyard constantly as a kid and then for Bishop Maginn High School. He coached at the VI Community Center, refereed, and coached Owen's teams whenever he could. Bergan was a natural athlete from the time he played baseball at Westland Hills Little League right up until recently when he played golf with his dear friends. Some of them shared in the celebration of his two holes in one.

The outdoors gave Bergan a lot of joy. He reached 42 of the 46 Adirondack High Peaks, canoed, swam and took the boys fishing all over, at Lake George, Forest Lake, Cape Cod and Florida.

He was also a passionate sports fan and loved his Yankees, Dolphins, Lakers and Bruins.

For Grateful Dead shows, Bergan relished the chance to share a ticket, always buying extras so that he could sprinkle just a few miracles on his fellow Deadheads. He liked to reward the quiet, mellow fans.

Bergan was fun and he loved to get people together. He had a good, playful sense of humor, even during his chemo treatments.

In the last few years, Bergan expressed his love even more often. He said I love you at every opportunity and let people know he appreciated them. He became clear that love was the most important thing to give, and he taught us all to remember that.

Bergan was a special, loving person and enriched countless lives with his words and actions. His lovelight will shine on in the many lives he touched.

Bergan was predeceased by his parents, Kathleen Bergan Brown and Thomas W. Brown. He is survived by his wife, Amy Whiteman Brown, his sons, Owen and Devin, and lab Brownie; his siblings and their families, Cailin, J., Fiona and Liam Leary; Kerry, John, Kathleen, Shelagh and Maeve Conley; Megan Brown, Jeff, Justin and Brynn Anderson; Michael Brown and Karen Hauth; his in-laws, Robert and Rita Whiteman; Anne, Matt, Alex and Braeden Parenteau; and Wendy Whiteman and Roy Ketring.

A Mass of Christian Burial will take place on Thursday at 11:30 am at St. Clement’s Church, Saratoga Springs. Relatives and friends are invited to visit with Bergan’s family on Thursday morning from 9:30 to 11:30 at St. Clement’s Church, 231 Lake Ave. Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.

In lieu of flowers, please make contributions to the Double H Ranch, 97 Hidden Valley Road, Lake Luzerne, NY 12846 or to the C.R. Wood Cancer Center, Randy's Patient Assistance Fund at Glens Falls Hospital, 100 Park St., Glens Falls, NY 12801. To leave a message of condolence for the family or to view Bergan’s custom video tribute, visit www.CannonFuneral.com