Glen "Cowboy" Winston Brunelle

Glen Winston Brunelle, known to many as “Cowboy,” passed peacefully away at the age of 47 years, on February 14, 2021, at Royal Victoria Hospital in Barrie with his beloved wife, Tracey, by his side. We think this was to get out of buying her Valentine's Day flowers. Though Cowboy lost in his courageous two-year battle against melanoma, he received pointers from some of his favourite characters, including Steven Seagal and Josh Duhamel.  He also met Leaf greats such as Auston Matthews, Doug Gilmour, and Rick Vaive, whom Glen had no idea their significance (he had no appreciation for hockey whatsoever). He is predeceased by his father Ron and is survived by his great loves: his wife Tracey who never left his side, and his fur babies, Sage and Stella.  He will be greatly missed by his mother Jeanette, his beloved sister Lynn, his mother-in-law Marilyn, and always loved goddaughter Sophia.  Cowboy also leaves behind many other family members – those from blood and those in blue – and friends who will always remember him and will toast him with a whiskey. Glen spent most of his career in law enforcement, protecting the citizens of Toronto from bad guys.  In his spare time, he watched over those shopping at LCBOs in 12 and 31 Division. He truly loved being a police officer, supporting and mentoring his peers. Like his battle with cancer, he fought hard to achieve the role, realizing his dream of joining Toronto Police and was extremely proud of his profession. Glen had a heart of gold and was always helping others. Policing was his true calling. Cowboy was a well-known western trendsetter. He enjoyed spending his hard-earned pay on fancy plaid shirts with snaps and fine detailing, Ariat jeans, and exotic and very pricey cowboy boots and hats. His love of Vegas enabled his shopping habit and helped build his collection of classy belt buckles. In his pre-Tracey days, he was known to participate in rodeo adventures, including bull-riding. Glen's refined tastes ranged from pizza crackers – yes, crackers with tomato sauce, pepperoni, and cheese - to Kelsey’s Original Roadhouse, primarily for the Scene points. He also had a love of exotic beer like Coors Light, which he enjoyed sharing with the important people in his life, particularly his mom., whom he loved dearly. He was a known movie buff. If Amazon had tiered shoppers, Glen would have been a platinum member on his movie purchases alone. His collection of movies and posable action figures span much of their basement, and his rigid classification system was fool-proof for finding your movie choice: by Studio, favourite actor, then box set. Glen only watched his movies on TVs with a 4K standard, and larger than 42 inches - as size does matter – with full surround sound, while sitting in a Lazyboy chair to get the best view. Glen's love of Ford was evident from the red truck in his driveway to the white California Mustang he'd only take out on sunny, summer days. Glen spent more time meticulously polishing that Mustang than putting kilometres on it. Glen will be greatly missed by everyone.  In the words of his favourite hero, Sylvester Stallone, “No one will hit you harder than life itself. It doesn’t matter how hard you hit back. It’s about how much you can take, and keep fighting, how much you can suffer and keep moving forward. That’s how you win.”

"12 dispatch, take me off your board. I'm in for shift.”

SERVICES

Per Glen’s wishes there will be a private family viewing prior to cremation.

Due to the pandemic a Celebration of Life will be held at a later date.

DONATIONS

In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to The Melanoma Network of Canada or Royal Victoria Hospital, Barrie, Cancer and Palliative Care Inpatient Unit.