Brian Noel Loucks died peacefully in Minot, ND on March 7, 2021. He was 64.

Brian was born in northeastern ND on December 25, 1956. His middle name was selected after his parents researched origins of names and discovered Noel had been used since the Middle Ages for both boys and girls born during the Christmas season. When Brian was seven months old his father was transferred to Rugby, ND. His parents bundled up Brian and his bassinet, packed his two older sisters in the family car and relocated to Rugby in mid-1957. Although the spelling of Brian's middle name caused confusion for others, his real ribbing came later when his paternal grandmother misspelled his name as 'Brain' on his birthday card. One sister asked him if he then thought that made him "the brains of the family." Brian was joined by the birth of his third and final sister in 1958 and the family unit was complete.

Brian loved football and the outdoors. He participated in a local Punt, Pass and Kick contest as a 6th grader and brought home a trophy for his punting capabilities. His father briefly entertained visions of his son as a Green Bay Packer but Brian secretly favored the Vikings. Brian loved the typical things young boys loved. He had cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, a belt with holsters, two silver cap guns, rolls of caps, a stick horse, bows and arrows and later a BB gun. He swam in the summer, raced his bike and enjoyed early years as a Boy Scout. In the winter he sledded, pulled the family puppy on a toboggan and built snow forts in the back yard with his sisters. He developed an affinity for hunting and fishing. He spent time on various area lakes angling for trout and walleye and in winter accompanied his father on ice fishing trips, but his real passion was bird hunting. He loved the arrival of fall with its migrating birds, crisp days, sharper colors and grain harvests. He was happiest spending time with his father, friends and older cousins hunting ducks, geese, partridge, pheasants and grouse. He helped his father with cleaning, preparing and freezing the game they brought home.

Brian's life changed dramatically in 1971 when he suffered a traumatic brain injury during a late afternoon football game with classmates Thanksgiving weekend. A friend inadvertently kicked the football on top of an older two-story school. Brian volunteered to retrieve it so the game could continue, but tragically Brian stepped onto a patch of ice, lost his balance and plummeted two stories to the gravel playground below. The left side of his head and body took the brunt of the impact. Brian was taken by ambulance to the hospital in Rugby; then air lifted to a hospital in Fargo. He lay in a coma for ten days while neurosurgeons delicately picked bone slivers from Brian's brain. His family waited, not knowing if Brian would survive. Brian spent nearly seven weeks in the hospital, much of it in intensive care, but recovered enough to return to Rugby in January 1972. As a result of the impact, Brian permanently damaged his optic nerve and lost the peripheral vision in his right eye. With the help of his parents and high school teachers he was able to finish his freshman year and to the astonishment of all, he graduated with his classmates in 1975.

With encouragement from his parents and teachers Brian applied to the Wahpeton School of Science (now NDSSS) and was accepted into their automotive mechanics program. He graduated with an Associate's Degree in Auto Mechanics in 1977 and was quickly hired by the Baker-Hughes Corporation in Casper, WY. When that job ended, he returned to Rugby where he worked for Miltenberger Sales and Rugby Hydraulics before relocating to Minot to pursue his love of auto mechanics.

Brian suffered an earlier heart attack in August 2020 while visiting his friend, Judy Davis. Due to the prevalence of Covid 19 patients in Minot, he was flown to Bismarck to undergo cardiac by-pass surgery but returned home to Minot after his surgery.

Brian is survived by his sisters, LaNeta (Gordon) Pieterick, Rugby, ND; Wendy (Paul Hendrickson) Loucks, Fargo, ND and Laurie Domis, Dunseith, ND; special friend Judy R. Davis, Minot, ND and several nieces and nephews including Raymond (Melanie) Pieterick and their son, Kearney, MO; Carlan (Erin) Pieterick, Rugby, ND; Luke (Erica) Hendrickson and their daughters, rural Fargo, ND; Sarah (Parker) Vander Wal  and their children, Argusville, ND; Andrew (Amanda) Hendrickson, and their children, Thompson, ND; Krag Domis and his son, Fargo, ND and Monique Belgarde and her son, Dunseith, ND.

Brian was preceded in death by his parents, the late Joyce and Curtis Loucks, long time Rugby residents and his paternal and maternal grandparents of LaMoure, ND and Lisbon, ND respectively.

The family would like to thank the Thomas Family Funeral Home of Minot for handling Brian's remains and the Anderson Funeral Home in Rugby for their assistance in choosing a headstone.

Condolences may be submitted through the Thomas Family Funeral Home website. Additionally, the family would like to thank Judy Davis, Minot, for her affection and friendship to Brian throughout the years, and to Minot attorney Richard R. LeMay for his advice and counsel.

Brian was baptized into the Lutheran faith as an infant and confirmed at Bethany Lutheran Church, Rugby, ND.
Brian will be cremated, and his ashes will be interred at the Loucks Family plot, Priscilla Watts Cemetery, Rugby, ND with a service later this summer.
Rest in Peace dear brother, friend, uncle and cousin. We love and miss you. You must now leave us, but you are welcomed home to your Heavenly Father with open arms.
Memorials may be sent online to the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, the National Kidney Foundation or the Brain Trauma Foundation.