McParland, Bernard J. ‘Brian’, 93, of Palm Harbor died on May 10, 2021. He was born in Portadown, Co. Armagh, N.Ireland and attended St. Columba’s School, Portadown and St. Patrick’s College, Armagh. He worked as a projectionist at the Regal Cinema, Portadown before coming to Manchester, CT. USA in 1947.
Brian served in Japan and Korea as a Corporal in the 179th Infantry Regt. of the 45th Division. He was wounded in both legs during a Chinese attack on Old Baldy hill in June 1952 and was awarded the Purple Heart Medal and Combat Infantry Badge among other decorations. After three and a half years of hospitalization at Fort Devens, Mass. and Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, he went on to attend the University of Connecticut.
Upon graduation from UConn (BA 1959), he worked as an Electronics Engineer for Airborne Instruments Laboratory in Long Island, NY. He also obtained a BS Degree from Hofstra University in 1966. He worked on the Project Mercury space program and also as a test engineer for radar countermeasures equipment used on the EF111 and EA6B aircraft and on the B1 Bomber. Brian retired and moved to Florida in 1990.
He is survived by Phyllis, his beloved wife of 67 years, his son Kevin and wife Laurie in Olney, MD, daughter Brenda and husband Brian Bell in Kingwood, TX as well as grandchildren Nicholas Bell, Erin Bell, and Megan McParland. Other survivors include brothers Jim and Anthony in N.Ireland, sister Marie Lawless in Milford, CT, and sisters Eileen McCann and Bridie Mulholland in Portadown, N.Ireland.
Brian was a semi-pro boxer prior to joining the US Army. He played drums in his youth and later in 1965 he learned to play bagpipes. He was Pipe Sergeant and music director for the Ancient Order of Hibernians Saffron Kilts Pipe Band, Babylon, NY. He became Pipe Major for the American Celtic Pipe Band, Babylon, NY. in 1982. He retired from this position in 1988, but after moving to Clearwater, Florida he joined the St. Andrews of Tampa Bay Pipes and Drums.
Brian received the 2012 Distinguished Veteran Award from the Greater Palm Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce, was a life member of the Disabled American Veterans, a past division President of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, a member of the Knights of Columbus, and was inducted as a Life Member with Saffron United Pipe Band.
Other interests include music, boxing, hockey, writing, genealogy, designing Celtic jewelry, and computers.
Stephen Mcparland
May 15, 2021, 7:58 am
A life well lived
Brian McParland
May 15, 2021, 8:19 pm
What a remarkable eulogy for a truly wonderful man that I’m so proud to call my Uncle.
He was gentle ,strong ,brave and talented. What an interesting life he had.
As a young boy I always remember how excited I was to see him when he came to Derry and he will be sorely missed.
He was a good man!
From a fellow boxer. Your nephew Brian McParland, Sonia, Jenny ,Ryan and Eóin.
Peter Mc Parland
May 17, 2021, 10:20 am
Uncle Brian was a very generous man, in giving his time to his family and friends. As a young engineering student in California he realised I would be by myself at Christmas and arranged and paid for my visit to Brenda’s place in Houston, he even introduced me to opera when I was there. Everyone was always very fond of him, giving his advice in a very thoughtful and calm manner,
From Peter, Deirdre, Amy and Kate in Derry
Neil Mc Parland
May 17, 2021, 4:57 pm
Very sad to hear the news that my dear uncle Brian has passed. There was always something very special about him and from my very earliest childhood memories he stood out as this very strong, warm, gentle and kind man. There was a sense of mystique about him, the ‘American uncle’ who had served his adopted country in the Korea war and who had made a new life for himself in America with his beautiful Italian wife Phyllis and raised great children, Kevin and Brenda. I always looked forward to his visits to Derry and I am happy to know that I now live in one of his favourite places, Donegal.
You have achieved a lot in your life uncle Brian and I am so proud to be related to you. You are a good soul. Rest in peace. Love, your nephew Neil.
Mark Bernard (Brian) McCaffery
May 18, 2021, 3:30 pm
One evening in the late 1960’s a conflicted Brian McParland looked up at a fuzzy black and white tv screen in our house in Portadown. The connoisseur in him admired Muhammad Ali’s boxing skills, but uncle Brian didn’t approve of the perceived arrogance that was on display! When I observed his reaction I was a bit disappointed, but as a child I didn’t fully fathom the values that some adults had….the hard work and the sacrifices leaving literally no time for self indulgence or the like. Serious people like him didn’t like “big mouths”!
I only have fleeting memories of him, including a poignant one in 1979 when Brian flew to Portadown for his sister’s (my mother’s) funeral and did one of the readings at the Mass, adding a bit of American “gravitas” to proceedings. At the graveyard I can vividly remember him placing his overcoat over the shoulders of his father (granda McParland) in order to protect the latter from the inclement weather.
I seem to recollect a lighter moment in Milford CT circa early 1990’s when he played some Irish tunes on the bagpipes, thus adding a sprinkling of culture to the developing merriment and “hubbub”. So it wasn’t always a serious affair! My sense is that Brian was well suited to the era in which he lived, and that given the choice he wouldn’t have chosen either a different epoque for living, or indeed a different life. I have never understood the Irish penchant for using abbreviated names and hadn’t realised that Brian’s full name was Bernard J McParland. Maybe that explains a few things and now I know whose “fault” it was!
RIP