Taunton High School art teacher Brian Kreizinger made every day of his life count.
“He lived every single second,” his sister, Kelly Steele said. “We always joked that he always had a to-do list, even the day before he went to the hospital, he was like, ‘All right, I have to put this on my to-do list’ … No minute was wasted would be an understatement.”
Kreizinger, a Rehoboth resident, died of cancer on April 17, 2025, according to his obituary. His family created a GoFundMe to raise money for his wife Kate and their two children.
His sister said in an interview with the Gazette that he was “an example of how to live your life.”
Devon Borges, a friend of Kreizinger’s and colleague in the Taunton High School art department, said, “He reminded me: Don’t forget that you can still give high expectations and kids will rise to it. Sometimes you get discouraged that they’re not trying hard enough and you sort of lower expectations to try to get them to respond, but he never did.”
Both Steele and Borges remembered Kreizinger as being devoted to his family and as someone who took the time to get to know people on an individual level, even going as far as to give unique gifts for his friends and family to demonstrate his appreciation for the people in his life.
Here’s what they shared about Kreizinger’s life.
Brian Kreizinger, an art teacher at Taunton High School who died of cancer on April 17, 2025, is seen here with his wife, Kate Thurston Kreizinger.
‘The best dad’: Always going on adventures
Steele remembered her brother as “the best dad” to his two children, Audrey and Oliver.
“With Audrey and Oliver, he did every adventure,” Steele said. “He would message me and say, ‘Any ideas for adventures for the kids today?’ He would do it every weekend, always taking them on different experiences and things like that.”
“They went fishing, they went camping every summer, he took Audrey to cooking lessons in East Greenwich, they would go rollerblading and roller-skating all the time in the winter, he took them bowling. He loved to drive around in his Ramcharger with the top off, he loved that,” Steele recalled.
Brian Kreizinger, second from left, an art teacher at Taunton High School who died of cancer on April 17, 2025, is seen here with his wife Kate Thurston Kreizinger, right, and their children Audrey, left, and Oliver, second from right.
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Will continue to drive his truck
“We’re going to keep the Dodge Ramcharger going so that the kids can still take rides in the charger and they loved that, that was one of their favorite things to do with him was ride around and get ice cream or go fishing. His wish was that we keep doing the things with his family, with the kids, that he would do with them and keep those things going. So we’re just going to keep doing the adventures with the kids and the family things we always do.”
“His family was everything,” recalled Devon Borges. “When he first was diagnosed and had his treatment, his family had a prearranged vacation … he couldn’t go but he refused to have them not go … And so they went and he built a humongous treehouse for his children so that when they got home he could surprise them. It was the most awesome treehouse you would ever see.”
“We have children of a similar age, so they would come over in the summertime,” she said. “He called himself Mr. Mom during the summer because he took care of the kids.”
Brian Kreizinger, an art teacher at Taunton High School who died of cancer on April 17, 2025, is seen here in his Ramcharger truck with his dog Willow.
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Thoughtful gift giver
“I will never be able to gift-give the way that he gave gifts,” Steele said. “He gave me such sentimental gifts. No one has given me the type of gifts he gave me. They all have a lot of meaning, either from our childhood or special times. He would give these presents that are invaluable.”
One particular gift she received from Kreizinger was a reference to her engagement, she recalled. “I got engaged at Newport Vineyards a few years ago, and for Christmas that year, he got me a barrel top that said Newport Vineyards on it.”
“I still have two voicemails on my voicemail from him, and one was: ‘I have this great gift idea for mom, call me back,'” she said. “He’s always thinking ahead about gifting people thoughtful, sentimental things.”
“He would tell me and get so excited about the presents that he would work so hard to get,” Borges recalled. She said that Kreizinger also gave gifts to teachers at the High School. One teacher who was leaving the school “loved tattoos,” Borges said, so Kreizinger “gave her a gift certificate to get a tattoo.”
“It’s how he shows he appreciates you and you matter.” Borges said of Kreizinger’s propensity to give unique gifts.
Brian Kreizinger, an art teacher at Taunton High School who died of cancer on April 17, 2025, holds his son, Oliver.
Inspiring teacher
Borges said Kreizinger “was strict but he was also beloved” as a teacher.
“He was super-organized and kids like that, kids respond to that when your routine is established and it’s kept to that routine, kids like that sense of order,” she said.
At the High School, he was known for playing country music, Borges recalled. “The kids just thought it was funny. Kids don’t listen to that, they would much rather listen to hip hop but he listened to country music.”
Kreizinger had “high expectations” for his students, Borges said, and “people responded to that.”
Steele, who also works in education, said that her brother was motivated to be a teacher to “inspire the next generation.”
“If they had some untapped talent he wanted to be that person to bring it out,” Steele said.
Brian Kreizinger, an art teacher at Taunton High School who died of cancer on April 17, 2025, is seen here with his daughter, Audrey.
Living last weeks to the fullest
In June of 2023, Kreizinger went into the hospital with stomach pain thinking it was an ulcer and came out with a diagnosis of stage 4 cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, an extremely rare cancer, according to the GoFundMe, which was organized by Steele. He had “really positive treatment results” until April of 2024, when he started having headaches and learned that his cancer had spread to his spinal fluid.
“This is a dire cancer metastasis where most patients only live weeks after symptoms start. In true Brian fashion, he had a shunt inserted to drain the fluid from his skull to his stomach and pushed on to keep living. He wrote a paper to finish one of his educational licenses, he applied to a doctoral program, he and Kate took a cruise with the kids to Alaska, and he completed numerous house projects with many still on his ‘to-do list’,” the GoFundMe says.
Even in his last few weeks of life, he made the most of every minute, the GoFundMe says.
Between hospitalizations in those last few weeks, Kreizinger was able to watch his son test for his blue belt and then be awarded it and watch his daughter “perform in her play that she’s been working so hard for” — and not only did he see the show, he made it to all three days, the GoFundMe says.
His loved ones spent the day with him on Tuesday, April 15, two days before he died, according to his GoFundMe, “and even though he was mostly sedated, he opened his eyes when we were getting ready to leave, said ‘hi everyone’, and gave us two thumbs up when we told him we all loved him. That’s the way he would have wanted to say goodbye.”
A Celebration of Life will be held on Thursday, May 1, 2025, at the Berkley Beer Company from noon to 3 p.m. at 10 Ingell St. in Taunton, according to his obituary. Kreizinger wished for people to share stories and memories. Colorful and comfortable attire is encouraged. Parking is limited therefore carpooling and ubering is highly encouraged.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton High art teacher Brian Kreizinger ‘lived every single second’
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