Brian Hester

He was born to Richard and Maryann Hester and raised in Newark. Brian graduated from Saint Benedicts High School. He continued his education at Rutgers Newark where he received his undergraduate degree in Economics.  Brian always spoke fondly of being on the radio station for Rutgers,WRNU. He would go on to get his Masters Degree in Industrial Management from the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Brian met Marianne Albarez in November 1990 at a band concert.  They got engaged in December 1991 and married June 1993.   The inside joke was that their vacations were always an adventure and it began on their honeymoon to Cancun during a tropical storm.  Brian’s children were the light of his life.  They were his reason for everything.  Matthew was born in 1995 and Alicia in 1996.  He was the most involved father and was an integral part of their lives and the lives of all their friends

Brian worked for the Verizon Corporation as a Lineman and advanced to management through his twenty years working there.  While at Verizon he enjoyed working with their Disaster Relief Team that was dispatched across the country. He was active in the telephone Pioneers.  After some other positions, he ended up working for the Times Square Alliance in New York City where he was a Public Safety Supervisor overseeing events like the New Year’s Eve ball drop and many other public gatherings in Times Square. In his later years Brian turned his love of photography into a business.

Brian will be remembered for his love of photography.  Many will recall his videos that started with his slogan “We here live.”  He enjoyed photographing anything and everything including the hummingbirds in his backyard…which almost became a hummingbird sanctuary. He was spontaneous, and his willingness to help anyone, anytime, even if it meant going out of his way and cost him money out of his pocket.  He was that friend you could always count on. When it came to friendship Brian became friends with just about anyone, he was loving, charismatic, and spent as much time as he could volunteering. He was truly selfless and would say: “When I win the lottery I will open a soup kitchen.”  He was Rutgers #1 football fan, a sideline photographer, and was always saying and that  they were going to win the National Championship…next year. His children say Brian has more Instagram posts than both his children combined. He also loved NY Giants Football and just last year got Season Tickets.

Brian was the loving husband of Marianne Albarez-Hester; loving father of Matthew Hester of New York City and Alicia Hester of Wayne; he was the loving son of Maryann Hester; loved son-in-law of Mary Ann Albarez; brother of fifteen siblings: Marylou, Maureen, Susan, Siobhan, Sean, Paul, Mary Ann, Edward, Barbara, Bridget,  and Timothy. He was predeceased by his siblings Richard, Owen, Theresa, and Matthew.  He was the brother in law of Lauren Rodriguez and Richard Albarez.  He was the devoted friend of Kim Redstone and Vicki Hickey.  He will be dearly missed by many in-laws, nieces, nephews, cousins, extended family and friends.

In lieu of flowers memorial donations to either The Children’s Home Society CHSOFNJ.org or Reeve Foundation Team LeGrand would be greatly appreciated.