Home Memorial Site Bret Earle Passes. . .

Bret Earle Passes. . .

by George Mattson

Bret Howard Earle, 1970 –2013, Shodan Uechi Ryu karate

 

It is with a great deal of sadness that I announce the untimely passing of Bret Earle. He and his brother Ted Earle, (currently Yondan) were two of the earliest students at the San Jose dojo. Bret and Ted Earle, and my son Mike Allen were very close friends and trained together. They all received their Shodan (black belt) on May 5, 1985. During those early training years we attended quite a few tournaments and the 3 of them accumulated an impressive array of trophies. They trained hard, and at Bret’s first tournament he performed Kanshiwa kata. The judges complained that his skill looked to too advanced for the division, but I explained that it was his first competition and that it was the basic kyu kata. Bret was tall and strong and became interested in body building. He went on to become a trainer. Bret also was a certified counselor who helped many people overcome addiction challenges in their lives. In the early afternoon of May 8 as he was preparing to work out at his local gym, he collapsed. Efforts to revive him by staff and EMT’s were unsuccessful and he never regained consciousness.

Bret is survived by his wife Sarah, 10 year old son Alden, his older brother Ted, and his younger brother Brendan.

submitted by:

Shihan, Dave Sargent, Kyoshi

OKIKUKAI West, San Jose, California

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