LAKE COUNTY — It”s difficult to picture a Lake County without Brett Behrens, a longtime resident, avid photojournalist, tennis player and active in Boys Scouts of America.
Despite failing vision Behrens captured the essence of emotion, pain, victory, triumph and history in his photographs that graced the pages of the Record-Bee, Ukiah Daily Journal and for the Associated Press.
During his career as a photojournalist he snapped images from the 1984 Olympics, The Democratic National Convention, the King Of Sweden, Joe Montana and certainly and most importantly, many Lake County athletes and events.
He was a photographer for more than 20 years. He died on Dec. 18 at age 46 at Palliative Care Memorial Hospital in Santa Rosa after spending more than a month in a coma.
Behrens lived in Clearlake with his fiancee of eight years Peggy Engstrom, who works at the Lake County Jail, and their son Cody, 22, who recently enlisted in the Army and is training at Fort. Leonardwood, Missouri to become an M.P.
“So we”re waiting until May to have his (Brett”s) memorial so he (Cody) could be there,” Engstrom said.
“He showed me what life could be, what was important, family, being together, finding what makes you happy and pursuing it. He taught me not to dwell on the little things, because you”ll miss all the good stuff,” she said.
Behrens wrote this about himself as a description on a MySpace page:
“My friends say I”m a little odd. And I say to them, ?so…what”s your point?” I mean if we were all the same what fun would this world be? I say go out and experience life and all it has to offer because you only get one shot at it and there are no “do-overs.””
Engstrom misses him so much, she says.
“If I did not have the support of everyone around me, my friends, co-workers, I just couldn”t do it.”
Her daughter-in-law Kim Engstrom and grandson Logan Michael, one month old, are staying with her now.
“Cody took the baby to see Brett even though he was in a coma, because he wanted his newborn son to meet his (Cody”s) dad,” Peggy Engstrom said as she fought back tears.
When Behrens began at the Record-Bee he was a proofreader but was thrilled to be able contribute photos to the paper as well.
His fiancee describes him as a determined person who wanted the best from everyone and especially himself. “He was harder on himself than anyone else could ever be. He would hate to disappoint anybody,” she said.
Behrens earned the title he received of “Most Spirited” in his class at Clear Lake High School where he graduated in 1980.
Dedication to his art and ambition in life proved to make his short stay on earth a relevant and significant existence.
Mandy Feder can be reached at mfeder@record-bee.com.
