George Brenner, 78

NEWPORT, R.I. – George Brenner, 78, a prominent area realtor since 1967, died Feb. 20. He was the husband of Diane M. (Daigle) Brenner. Born in Cambridge, Mass., he was the son of the late Ernest and Elinor (Schwartz) Brenner and step-son of the late Marsha Brenner.  A graduate of Somerville High School and the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., Class of 1958, he served in both the Marine Corps and the Navy during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.  He was the owner of Brenner Realtors in Westport, Mass. and Newport, R.I. and was formerly employed by Larry Nunes Real Estate in Middletown, R.I.

He was a member of the Jewish War Veterans, the VFW, the American Legion and the Vietnam Veterans of Westport. He was a trustee of the Fall River Five Cents Savings Bank, a director of the USS Massachusetts Battleship Memorial Committee, former director of the Greater Fall River United Way, former board member of the Moby Dick Council of the Boy Scouts, member of the Westport Lions Club, past president of the Fall River Lions Club and a member of the Fall River Lodge of Elks for 43 years. He was past president of the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Greater Fall River Association of Realtors, and past vice president of the New England Region of the National Association of Realtors. He was a former member of the US Small Business Administration Advisory Board of Greater Boston Council, and the Single Family Advisory Board, Mass. Housing Finance Agency. He was the former tax assessor for the Town of Portsmouth, R.I. and was a past chairman of the Westport Master Plan Updating Committee.

Along with his beloved wife, he is survived by his children, Linda Alexson and her husband Andrew of Ipswich, Mass., Karen Brenner Leslie and her husband Matthew of Westwood, Mass., Robert Brenner and his wife Dara of Atlanta, Ga., Judith Uphold of Salt Lake City, Utah, and Jeffrey Brenner and his wife Melissa of Wakefield, Mass.; his sisters Nancy DeAngelo and her husband Floyd of Greenwood Lake, N.Y., Barbara Brenner-Morris and her husband Edward of Bellingham, Wash., Patricia Mostert and her husband Christopher of Malibu, Calif., and Susan Brenner of Manhattan Beach, Calif.; and his grandchildren William, Holly, Jeffrey, Kyle, Jared, Noah, Samuel, Jaron, Grace and Abbey.  He was also the father of the late Eric Brenner. The family requests no flowers, but donations in his memory may be made to United Way of R.I., 50 Valley St., Providence, RI 02909 or Make-A-Wish, 20 Hemingway Dr., East Providence, RI 02915.