GRANITE CITY, Ill. – A life of service deserves celebration. Vietnam veteran Brian Earney didn’t want it.
If you ask his family, this was typical behavior. He didn’t want to burden anybody with his business.
“When his health was declining, he wanted to make sure that Kellie and I didn’t have to worry about anything,” Earney’s daughter, Kathrine Robbins, said. “He went to the funeral home and made his arrangements. He didn’t want a memorial or service or anything. He said, ‘Just cremate me, put me in a Kentucky lake, and call it a day.'”
Retired and living in Tennessee, Earney’s health began to decline after years of lung issues. Earney’s daughters were by his side before he passed at the age of 68.
“We went down about a week prior to him passing, stayed the week with him, and made sure he had everything he needed,” Earney’s other daughter Kellie Grimes said. “It just so happens we were watching the Blues game.”
It wasn’t atypcial behavior from Earney. He spent a lifetime supporting the St. Louis Blues, often traveling hours ahead of game time to “beat the traffic.”
“Dad always said, ‘When you go to a hockey game you have to sit in one of the four corners about 15 rows up,” Robbins said.
Robbins and Grimes knew their father was against any formal ceremony. Instead, the sisters redirected that money to something their father would approve of…
St. Louis Blues hockey.
“During that time, he was telling us, ‘if you ever get to go to a playoff game, you should go,'” Grimes said. “He does everything for my sister and I. So, we decided we were going to do something for him.”
So they went.
Alongside family, the sisters bought their first playoff tickets to Game 4 between the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota Wild at the Enterprise Center.
They sat in the corner, 15 rows up.
“I could hear dad and his commentary while we were watching the game,” Robbins said. “He was like ‘Alright, you know, they are finally waking up out there. They are finally getting it together.'”
With an ‘Earney’ patch coupled with the number 68 just below, both families sported brand new Blues jerseys to commemorate the experience.
“The six of us were there with my dad all the way up until the last moments,” Grimes said. “We were there to celebrate the last ‘Oorah’ for him. We were there and we took home a win.”
The win marked the beginning of a three-game win streak for the Blues, earning their first postseason-series win since their Stanley Cup run in 2019.
The win also marked the celebration of a life, deserving of such special tribute from family.