George T. Brierley

George T. Brierley, age 92, died at home on February 16, 2025.  Born in New Britain, Connecticut, he was the son of Vernon H. Brierley, Sr. and Elisabeth Sternberg (Traut) Brierley.  George and his bride-to-be, Marilyn E. Glazier, opened Brierleys’ Flowercrest in Kensington, Connecticut, in time for Easter, 1958; they were married that June.  They spent their lives working together in their flower shop, expanding the business in 1982 by merging with Johnson the Florist to become Brierley-Johnson Florist. 

George graduated from New Britain High School and Wesleyan University.  He attended Columbia Business School until he switched to graduate studies in biology at the University of Connecticut.  He taught biology at Central Connecticut State College (now CCSU), UConn (West Hartford) and at the University of Hartford for about 15 years, and he did further research in biology at Wesleyan.  Even after he left teaching, he continued to mentor the young people who worked at the flower shop and sought his advice.

George had a lifelong curiosity for natural history—flowers, trees, birds, other animals—and he inspired the same in his daughters.  He felt most renewed hiking in the woods on Bradley and Ragged Mountains and most at peace listening to the mesmerizing crash of waves on the rocky coast of Maine.  He and Marilyn have been directors of the Berlin Land Trust for many years.

Family was always important to George.  He was predeceased by his sisters Elisabeth Ann Odland and Patricia Brierley and his brother Vernon H. Brierley, Jr.  He was loved and respected, and will be deeply missed by his wife Marilyn E. Brierley, his four daughters Heidi L. Brierley (James E. Boyce), Kirsten E. B. Catan (Robert P. Catan), Karina L. Brierley (Craig L. Freeman), and Tamika T. Brierley (Eric M. Geigle), and his five grandchildren Veronica E. Boyce, Elise L. Catan, Brent R. Catan, Adeline E. Freeman, and Lena G. Geigle, as well as nephews, a niece, and their families.  He will also be missed by his golden retriever Freesia who, like her predecessors, provided him with “fuzz therapy.”

Please, remember George and his family with a moment spent appreciating nature, or add a note to the memory board at the flower shop at your convenience.  Memorial donations may be made to the Berlin Land Trust.  Berlin Memorial Funeral Home is in charge of private funeral arrangements.  To leave a memory or message of condolence, please visit: www.BerlinMemorialFuneralHome.com

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