BURTON, MI -- Funds are being raised to cover the funeral costs for Brendan Wilson, 20, of Burton who died in a drowning at Frankfort Beach. According to Wilson’s relatives, the accident occurred on Aug. 18 when he attempted to rescue his girlfriend who began to struggle while swimming in the lake following a change in the weather that created hazardous conditions on the water.
Wilson began to struggle himself while trying to get his girlfriend back to shore, so friends he was with at the time attempted to rescue both of them. The friends managed to rescue Wilson’s girlfriend, but Wilson was pronounced deceased after being transported to Munson Medical Center shortly after the incident. Wilson graduated from Kearsley High School in 2022.
He enjoyed spending time outdoors and playing his favorite sport, tennis, according to relatives who spoke with MLive-The Flint Journal. Evan Wilson, 16, Brendan’s brother, sad in addition to playing sports, his brother enjoyed collecting items like Pokémon and Magic: The Gathering cards. However, Evan said Brendan was constantly developing new interests.
“He was like this huge variety of a person,” Evan said. “He had so many phases.” “Whenever he had a hobby and stuff, he would be so far into it, and then the next week he would be so far into something else, whether it be like a new show or collecting,” Evan said.
Katie Zess, Brendan’s father’s longtime partner, said the fact they were able to get him out of the water at all was “amazing.” “They had to find him in the water and get him out of the water until EMS arrived,” she said. Zess and her sister, Jessica Burke, started a GoFundMe this week for Brendan, with all the funds are going to his mother, Janell Lanter, to cover any costs related to his funeral.
As of Friday, Aug. 23, more than 60 donors have helped raise more than $4,000 of the $10,000 fundraising goal set by Zess and Burke. “Honestly, I’ve been kind of blown away by how many people have shared it and donated.
It’s been amazing,” Zess said. “Obviously, with funerals you don’t exactly have a lot of time. It’s not something you prepare for.
” Brendan was an “all around good kid,” Zess said, adding she wasn’t surprised to hear he was trying to save someone else when the incident occurred. “You could always count on him,” Zess said. “He was there for people.
” “He was 20, so he was just getting into the grove of working and being an adult,” she said. Zess said she also wants people to be more aware of the dangers associated with swimming in Lake Michigan, noting there were no lifeguards in the area at the time. “I just don’t think people really think that’s going to happen to them because we’re surrounding by lakes and not oceans, and it still gets bad out there,” she said.
Ashley Blake, one of Brendan’s aunts, said he would “give anybody the shirt off his back” and she has heard similar things about him from others who knew him following his sudden passing. “He would do anything for anyone, especially his family or friends,” Blake said. “All the support that we’ve gotten throughout this truly amazes me, and it’s very heartwarming to know how many lives Brendan touched, how many people loved him.
” Blake also noted Brendan died doing what he loved to do most: helping others. “I personally think that my nephew died a hero because he was saving his girlfriend’s life,” she said. Another one of Brendan’s aunts, April Greanya, described her nephew as having a “giant light” around him and he’d been that way since he was just a little kid.
Greanya also said she often referred to him as her “beautiful boy.” “He was just always happy, and when he wasn’t happy, he was worried about other people being happy,” Greanya said. “The kid had the biggest heart.
” Some of Greanya’s fondest memories are those of Brendan and her three sons running around her yard, playing games, swimming in the pool together and “just being boys.” “I just felt so blessed at that time to have these boys all together because family is such a big deal,” Greanya said. “He’s my first-born nephew.
I love those boys like my own sons, and I don’t even understand it. He was the light of my life.” Brendan’s death has also hit his grandfather, Mike Endicott, quite hard.
Endicott said Brendan was more like a son than a grandson to him as he was quite involved in his life and spent much of his time helping him practice for tennis, football, and any other sport he wanted to play. “I spent a lot of time with him as he was growing up,” Endicott said. “He was always a caring kid, never got in trouble.
He always thought about everybody else first, even when he was little.” Renee McPhillips, Endicott’s wife, died just a couple of years ago. Endicott said Brendan was there for him as he mourned her death.
“He was just so supportive through the whole thing,” Mike Endicott said. “It’s just a special bond that’s always been there. It’s been a rough road for the last five years or so, and now this happens.
” Like Blake, Endicott said he thinks Brendan’s actions in his last moments reflect what a kind and selfless person he was. “He just is a caring kid, obviously. What he did kind of shows you that,” Endicott said.
“In my mind, he’s a hero.” Mikayla Endicott, one of Brenda’s aunt, pointed out just how Brendan cared for his younger relatives and “set them up for success.” “He set an example for all the younger ones in our family because he’s the oldest grandson,” she said.
Visitation will take place from 1-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.
m. on Friday, Aug. 23, and from 10 a.
m. to the time of the funeral service on Saturday, Aug. 24 at Swartz Funeral Home, located at 1225 W.
Hill Road in Mundy Township. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m.
Saturday at Swartz Funeral Home. The funeral and visitation services are open to anyone who would like to pay their final respects. Anyone looking to donate to the GoFundMe for Brendan’s funeral expenses can do so here .
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