Brett loved well - by David Fladung

Brett was a guy that you just wanted to be around. He loved the people he was around and made even the monotonous things in life seem interesting. After Brett was killed, Dave Kleinknecht decided to put together a list of the things Brett loved that I added on to and we shared at his funeral. Our goal was to give an accurate picture of the man he was. We wanted to show what he was passionate about and give everyone a glimpse at why we both felt so privileged to have been his close friends. I hope as you read the list below you are able to get a clearer image of the fun-loving man of God that Brett was.

Brett was a lover of:
The Gospel
Liz – his fiance and best friend
His family
His close friends
The guys in his Sigma Chi fraternity
People – just spending time with various groups
Worshipping God – he had a passion for leading others in worship
Marriage – especially talking about it with friends
Basketball – he was a surprisingly agile fellow and was great at taking it to the hoop. He wouldn’t hesitate to jump into a pick up game no matter what he was wearing and then would end up sweating through his shirt
Ultimate Frisbee – Hersh had a great way of getting whatever you threw out there and he loved the fact that he could.
Watching sports – The Colts and Penn State football and going to baseball games
Reading Christian books – a newer found interest; in June he read Jim Elliot’s biography, and kept reading through Systematic Theology
Food – Chilli and a double stack at Wendy’s; a good, creamy pasta; slurpees; Mountain Dew; Outback Steakhouse; sunflower seeds (big packs that he’d work on for weeks and put a rubber band around them and that would usually end up in your car somewhere); his mom’s lasagna; chips and salsa and queso and ole dip; beef jerky and slim jims; onion bagels and cream cheese; ‘Skyline Chilli’; Starbucks chocolate-brownie frappachinos, and Big Chills
New gadgets – each time he traveled anywhere you could count on him buying a phone charger or something electronic – he brought his whole desktop to our summer project – iPod and any new accessory for it.
Little kids – he coined the phrase “lil’ biggems” and used “shnuggs” for all babies with big cheeks
Backyard games – and many other team activities – he always loved including new people in good, clean, fun
Nalgene – water bottles and water
Heroes of the faith including his dad – he loved being “Roger Hershey’s son” but didn’t let it get to his head
The Bible – which he firmly believed was the word of God.
The newest Slang – “biscuit”, “boom-big”,
Dance parties – actually a very good swing dancer
“Acting a fool” – (whether meaning to or not)
Shane Barnard – and other good worship musicians
Air Instruments – was one of the few that I know that did an air shaker
Pants that fit him – and looked good with his redoncrulous amounts of shoes
Touching you – he had this way of constantly changing pressure on each of his fingers
Handshakes – specializing in complex ones
Evangelism – would sensitively (by putting his hands in his pockets) and confidently (with his chin in the air and standing up straight and strong) communicate the gospel
Comfortable clothes – sweatpants and fleece
Movies – Braveheart, Finding Nemo, Notting Hill, Shawshank Redemption, The Notebook, Groundhog Day, Good Will Hunting and Miracle
Hats and visors – he would often make his own visors out of his old hats
Backpacks – Northface, bags for his laptop (he had so many he had to give one to Liz)
Shopping on the internet – Zappos.com for the newest New Balance or Saucony running shoes, eBay (and he would email you to see what you thought about the auction)
Nakedness – frat showers using as many shower heads as possible, being naked around lots of fellas, “Shower Power”, strip poker in VaBeach, naked ping-pong in State College
Nicknames – he loved making nicknames for his close friends. Dave K. was Spesh for ‘Special K' and was also Pastor Mac and Boo. David F. was shaggy, Dirk Novaski, or whatever else he would think up on the spot.
Smooth driving – and he was the best
Family vacations
Being generous
Encouragement – he loved being encouraged and encouraging other people
Costumes – the famous wig
Card games – Euchre, Nerts, Hearts and he loved to shoot the moon
Competitive games – Signs and skooch
Old School Nintendo – Contra (Brett and Dave F. beat it using no continues), Kings of the Beach, Jackal
Disc Golf – grabbin a big chill and some sunflower seeds and spending some time out at Karst Farm Park
Competition – In tradition of the Hershey family he would draw up plays for any kind of football game; he would always be upset about any loss – basketball pick up games, made up games, etc. He loved playing the “how many different ways could this object be used” game (e.g. a nalgene bottle = a telescope, a light saber and a trick jar where the springy worms pop out when you unscrew it).