In 1973, I walked in the door of my mothers and she told me about Brian’s death. She had no idea other than the fact that we went to high school together. I was devistated. I considered Brian as one of my best friends.

This picture was taken when our fifth grade class from Meadow Lake went to Chicago. In the picture are Rick Svindal, Mr. Glidden our teacher, and Bryan Wenz. Bryan was always the class clown, and if I remember correctly, got reprimanded frequently for it. My first memories of Bryan were when I lived on Rhode Island Avenue, across from First Lutheran Church of Crystal. Bryan's family lived across the street from us. When we were 4 or 5, we used to play in our doghouse ~ yes, we were that small. Bryan was fun-loving. His family had some challenging times. Will forever remember Bryan's smile. Another life lost way too soon. Bryan was loved by many. ♥

Brian was good at making surprise visits. While in high school, I thought we lived far apart, but we really didn't. Brian & his brothers could make a rowdy group with my brothers during summer vacation. I got to know Brian best when he had an amazing growth spurt in 10th grade and was sort of hiding in a foyer corner when I heard his loud whisper, "Terri!" When I saw him alone & felt concerned, he giggled; that led to laughing for the sake of laughing. Finally he said, "Look at my high water pants. I couldn't find anything else to wear today." He may have been a high-testosterone guy while hanging with other guys but I saw the best part of his character, according to my impression. Many times he surprised me by HOW he dropped by: revving a snowmobile on my parents' front lawn at sundown on a terribly frigid day or walking into my back yard with his very young sister sitting on his shoulders, balancing by firmly gripping his hair.Learning of his death & not knowing why is at the top of my heap for most frustrating, miserable losses. He was rough, I've learned fairly recently, at times when he disliked something about some other guy. I believe he abandoned such tendencies long before he was murdered. If anyone knows differently about why Brian was found in a lake without his wallet or favorite ring, I need to know. I just NEED to know.