ROCHELLE — Brian Daniel Young was born on March 9, 1970 in Rochelle, Illinois. He passed away on December 30, 2023 after a very sudden decline in his health. Brian was only 53 years of age.

Brian is survived by his parents, Jeannette and Richard Young; siblings: Scott (Tonya) Young and Angie Lint; niece, Nicole (Kyle) Maxwell; nephew, Zachary Young; great nieces and nephew: Kendall, Maci and Easton; his dog, Jolene and many loyal friends and extended family members. Brian was predeceased by his brother, Greg Young.

Brian was the kindest soul you have ever met. Many called him the gentle giant, and you were lucky to have ever known him. He would do anything for anyone. He helped his oldest brother with grocery shopping, he housed his middle brother when he was in need, he helped his sister move many times, he helped his parents with running errands or just visiting with them. He was a quiet guy who loved dogs. He had dogs his entire life. He enjoyed drawing, listening to The Grateful Dead, playing pool and riding motorcycles. He had many tattoos. One that stands out is the Chinese symbol for “to be different”. He was always his authentic self. He worked for many years at Northern Illinois University and was looking forward to retiring from there in a few years.

Brian was resilient. Brian has had leg/foot circulation issues for years and has lost toes and parts of his feet, but he would take a day or two to process that and then figure out what he needed to live a regular life. In 2022, Brian lost his house to a house fire and lost everything he owned except for the clothes on his body and his beloved dog, Jolene. He grieved that loss for a few days and then got on with living. He found an apartment and again moved on with his life. In mid-2023, Brian became paralyzed from the chest down due to transverse myelitis. Again, he took a very short time to process that and he was actively working on gaining strength so that someday he could live in an apartment without help. He didn’t complain, he just kept on moving forward. Brian was a calm soul. He loved his family, friends and any animal that needed his help. He will be missed by many.

There will be a visitation from 5:00 - 8:00 P.M., Thursday, January 4, 2024 at the Unger-Horner Funeral Home, 400 N. 6th St., Rochelle.  Cremation care will be provided after the visitation.  Burial will be at a later date at Woodlawn Cemetery in Creston, IL.  Visit www.ungerhorner.com to sign the online guest book.