George "Bryan" Pritchett

Doug Ellison 217/ 619-1058 cell

12/13/2008

Not really knowing where to start here. I just tried his cell phone again and got voicemail. I ran a search and found the obituary from October 17th.
I am so sorry for your loss. I feel like I've lost a member of my family as well.
Bryan and I grew up across the street from each other. We started both of our first two bands together: Bryan on guitar with me on drums. We played at Homecoming dances all over the Decatur, IL area.
His dad gave me all of his old locomotive engineer books as a going away gift before they moved away but Bryan thought they were lost somewhere. A few years ago when he came back to visit, the conversation naturally turned to " train stuff" and we started reminiscing about the old days. He was really surprised to find out that I had all the books in my closet. You should have seen his eyes when I handed them back to him..... Priceless.
I lost track of him for a couple years and last fall I began trying to track him down. It just seemed like something I needed to do. His mom was in poor health, so I didn't want to bother her.
I probably drove the furniture store folks and the city bus folks crazy with my phone calls, still no luck. Then I finally remembered the name of his band " the Likely Suspects" so I sent him an e-mail only to get no reply. Out of desperation , I sent a note to the band webmaster to see if he could help me. The next night around 11 PM, I get a phone call.. success! It turned out that Bryans band e-mail address was not working properly. That same night he told me about the return of the cancer.. didn't sleep most of the night.
We swapped phone numbers and e-mail addresses and kept in touch every few months. He called a few months ago and said he was coming into town. We made plans to get togetherwhe he got to town. The the two of us went to Monicals Pizza and sat there for 3 hours shooting the bull and re-hashing the good ol' days. It seemed like nothing had changed at all.
I told him how I picked up a bass guitar at school in 1976 and from then on I was hooked. As a drummer at heart, I had problems reading the bass music. Oddly enough, I found out that I had the same wierd ability to play by ear just like he did. I finally broke down bought a bass in 2002 and a few years later, he had a great time showing me all the cool things he could do that I had never heard of...you know .... big brother kind of stuff. :)
He had this really great Rickenbacker Bass that he brought down to show me a few months ago. We probably looked kind of goofy standing in my driveway playing that thing at 10 o'clock at night. Priceless again.
That night we stood out in the road and talked for hours, throwing rocks in a puddle along side the road... just like the old days. I will never forget it.
My daughter took a photo of us two "kids" standing out in the driveway that we used to play in. It will be one of my most cherished posessions.
Tomorrow when I play bass at church, my guitar will have a black ribbon tied to it. I'll know why its' there but no one else will. It will be there to remind me of a great friend, brother and truly gifted musician.
I'm so sorry it took so long to learn of his passing. Our last phone conversation took place while he was in the hospital around the first part of October. He didn't let on how serious his condition was. I'm sure he didn't want me to worry about him. I will miss the " God of Thunder ".
Please call or e-mail me at your earliest convenience.
Doug Ellison
3227 South Sprinter Drive
Decatur, IL 62521

douglaskellison@netscape.net
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