Donald John Brescia

Donald John Brescia, 81, died on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 5:20 pm at the VNA Hospice House of Vero with his daughter, Julia, at his bedside. He is predeceased by his children, Miriam, Jeff and Dan, and his mother and father. He is survived by his sister, Marlene, daughter, Julia, and grandsons Brendan, Collin and Aiden.

Don was born in Baltimore, Maryland to Antoinette and Alexander Brescia, the second child and only son. In his early years, he lived in East Baltimore amongst his large extended family. He reflected fondly about how his sister and cousin, Joan, often chased him, “but they could never catch me.” In 1956 his family moved to Bowleys Quarters on the Seneca River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. His older cousin, James (Sonny), was his idol and best friend and they had many adventures on the water: crabbing, fishing, boating and water skiing. On the weekends, all the family would come “down the shore” and enjoy the good life. His father, Al would drive down to Jimmie’s and get a bunch of live crabs and steam them up. Or, a rotisserie of pit beef would be cooked over a charcoal fire. Holidays were filled with festive foods like potato dumplings and sauerkraut, houska and anisette cookies, chicken soup with handmade noodles, and lamb they called “fancy meat.”

Don graduated from Mount Saint Joseph’s Catholic School for Boys and received his Bachelors Degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. Don’s finely honed intellect and analytical skills were put to work as he served in the development of the Apollo Space Missions program. This experience provided him the opportunity to become a senior analyst/project manager at the federal bureau, The National Security Agency. While in his first years, he befriended a bunch of guys who remained true life-long friends to his dying day, “The Bozos”.

Don moved his family to Fulton, Howard County, Maryland where it afforded his children the opportunity to grow up in nature with a reservoir, forests, fields and streams as their playground. Don retired from The Agency and pursued his life long passion for fishing and boating, settling in Florida. He got his 1000 ton captain’s license and took yachts up the Intercoastal Waterway. Don had passion and zest for life, in fact he often said, “Travel is the poor man’s therapy,” and true to his word, he travelled to the ends of the earth. He called everyone “Darling,” made those he spoke to feel special.

The Brescia family would like to thank Visiting Nurses Association Hospice House, especially his nurse, Jessica, and his healthcare specialist, Dennett, for the care and compassion they showed our beloved in his final days.

Family and friends are invited to attend the Memorial Mass that will be held at 10am on Wednesday, July 13, 2022 at Saint Sebastian Catholic Church,13075 US-1, Sebastian, Florida 32958.

Don’s last wishes were to be given back to the Atlantic Ocean which gave him so much joy and fun.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Don’s favorite charities: National Center for Learning Disabilities (https://www.ncld.org/) in remembrance of his beloved sons Dan and Jeff; or to Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance (https://ocrahope.org/) to honor his cherished daughter, Miriam.