Brian J. Cummings

Brian J. Cummings, 57, of Brentwood, Tennessee, passed away unexpectedly on February 6 at the home of his loving mother, Noreen McSweeney Cummings of Milton, Massachusetts.

Brian was a graduate of The Roxbury Latin School and the University of Massachusetts, Boston, from which he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English summa cum laude. Brian’s life was characterized by the length and depth of his many friendships; the friends he made at both Roxbury Latin and UMass Amherst remained important parts of his life until the end.

He met his wife, Sandra Bielawa Cummings, in Amherst, Massachusetts, and they were married in 1989 in Georgetown, Connecticut, near Sandy’s hometown of Redding. They bought their first house in Dedham, Massachusetts, and were later gifted with Elizabeth Rose, Tynan Joseph, and Conor Henry Cummings. Each of his children is smart, funny, and uniquely themselves, just like their father. The family later moved to Acton, Massachusetts, and then to Brentwood, Tennessee.

Brian worked for decades as an auditor, editor, and finally managing editor for the State Auditor’s Office in Boston, where he of course developed another set of life-long friends. Poker and the Patriots were the primary connective tissue with his friends, but you could always count on Brian to help you move, give you a ride, be by your side at a time of trouble, and more than anything make you laugh when you were down.

In addition to his mother, wife, and children, Brian is survived by his siblings Eileen Stoller and husband David, Michael J. Cummings Jr., and Karen Gillis; father-in-law Henry Bielawa; brothers-in-law Peter Bielawa and wife Jeanne and Daniel Bielawa and wife Susan; and many, many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts, and uncles. 

A celebration of Brian’s life will be held at a later date. Donations in his memory can be made to the American Diabetes Association.

As I walk through

This wicked world

Searchin' for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself

Is all hope lost?

Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,

There's one thing I wanna know:

What's so funny 'bout peace love & understanding?

____ Nick Lowe

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Brian J. Cummings, please visit our floral store.