Brian White was a volunteer firefighter at the Hogansburg Akwesasne fire department in Quebec for 25 years. He passed away suddenly on July 17 at age 56.
“Brian White left incredibly big shoes to fill. A lot of knowledge was lost. His passing was unexpected, and for some of us like myself, we are still processing,” said Isaac Macdonald, the fire chief at the Hogansburg Akwesasne Volunteer Fire Department.
White, who was a member of the Mohawk nation of Akwesasne died of cardiac complications.
“He was an incredible asset to the fire department. Lived right across the road from the fire station and was always one of the first on the scene,” he said during an interview with APTN News.
White was also one of the most experienced airboat operators at the department, according to the fire chief.
In honour of his many years of service and contribution, his brothers and sisters organized a procession where White was given his final ride.
The funeral was attended by the Akwesasne police, the RCMP and the Cornwall Fire Service.
“The city of Cornwall (in Ontario) lined up as an honour guard, their entire crew and staff on duty that day participated in our honour guard. And we had our members as an honour guard to remove Brian for his final journey,” Macdonald explained.
White’s younger brother Lance White said the funeral was the “ultimate send off” and showed a great deal of respect.
“We had just gone into the water, and we were coming on the corner of the east end of the island, and at that time, two eagles took off as we were coming down the corner. And it was just a surreal moment,” Lance said.
Lance recounted that his big brother was a charismatic tough guy with a big heart who always had a grin on his face.
“I always looked up to my older brother. I admired his passion for the fire department and what he did. It was his thing. He also liked his cars, and he liked his action I guess,” he said.
In fact, White loved cars so much that in 2000, he opened Mad Mohawk Kustum, a custom car shop. So, when APTN came a-knocking with the idea of documenting his life at the shop, he was in. Rez Rides debuted in 2004.
White’s mother, Becky White, said to APTN News that her son had fun making the show.
“On time, we were out in Cornwall. I think we ate at one of the restaurants and somebody recognized him in there. And they pointed to him and he looked at them and right away they said Rez Rides because they had seen it,” she said.
She added that White was very created and had an entrepreneurial spirit.
“I was forever buying solar things, and I said “go green,” and that is what he did. He went into solar panels,” Becky explained. In 2010, White opened Mohawk Sun.
Phillip White-Cree, his nephew, called White an “inspiration” and said that he was also involved in community affairs.
“My uncle was always involved with community and different ideas that he wanted to move forward with, whether it be it with the family or somehow bettering the community, and also making sure that his passions were there and one of them was definitely cars and auto shopping and Rez Rides was something he was always beaming about,” White-Cree said.
But his close ones said that the most important thing in White’s was always family. He leaves behind four kids, including his 16-year-old son, Landon Prieur.
“Every time I talked to him on car rides to the gym, that is probably what I miss the most because I would socialize with him. We had that. It makes me feel proud that he was my father,” Prieur said.
