(Stake) Brian Staker

Our friend Brian Staker, who went by Stake here at DG passed away yesterday afternoon. Brian had been a member here for nearly two years and in that time, shared his knowledge with the folks in the Cactus and Succulent Forum and Australian Forum. Always helpful and quick to offer assistance, we'll miss his cheery "G'Day!"

Brian was also helpful in the Plant ID Forum, assisting others 'down under' who had unknown plants and shrubs. He was also active over in Beginning Gardening, again helping others with gardening questions and problems.

He leaves a legacy of thoughtful and kind assistance. Something we should aspire to here. He will be missed by all.

the image is by our friend Trois, SingingWolf graciously gave me permission to use it

I know he will be sorely missed. Any lover of succulents and cacti is a friend of mine whether we've actually ever met or not. Even though your gardening work here on Earth is done, Stake, your legacy will live on in the DG forums ... as does Trois' and so many others that left us too soon.

In Memoriam and with Appreciation,
Carole in Tennessee

Brian, we will all miss you terribly. Thank you for being such a great friend in the C&S forum. My sympathies go out to your family and friends.

Melody ...he will be very sadly missed by all of us in the Australian forums.

He had such a typical dry Aussie sense of humour and was always there to offer advice or a cheeky comment to brighten the day.

Our thoughts and condolences go to his sister Colleen and his family and friends.

We did not know until the very end how ill he was.
We hope now that he has found Peace.

Goodbye Brian
We will miss you mate.

Brian will be greatly missed here at DG. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends.

We miss your cheery G'day Stake. Thanks for all your help.

G'day Stake!!! Thanks for your amazing number of contributions to the PlantFiles thru images, descriptions and details.

It was always fun to hear your comments from "down under" and enjoyed the comments from your perspective.

Thanks for sharing the good times with us. Your memory will live forever thru Daves' Garden.

Thoughts and prayers are with your loved ones...

Regards... pod ~ Kristi

I'm so sorry. Like so many others, I will always remember how charming Brian was with his cheerful greeting of G'Day. Although he was very knowledgeable, he was always humble, humorous and self-effacing. He will definitely be missed and his irrepressible Aussie spirit will not be forgotten.

Brian, you figured out what was wrong with my Luculia when none of the professionals could....thanks for that....
Enjoy your wine and have as much cream on your cakes as you like.
We will miss you.
Dianne

My heart goes out to the family and friends of Stake.
It seems just like yesterday that I lost my Dad, Trois, who was a DG member. I'll never stop missing him.
My Dad, left our family, his friends and complete strangers a wonderful legacy here at DG. After Dad's death, his friends have reached out from all around the world to offer me comfort, to lend me a hand learning how to use DG, and were there to share my grief.
My Dad always told me that DG was a wonderful, healing place. He was right. : - )
I am so sorry I didn't have the opportunity to "meet" Stake, while he was still alive, but I do hope that his family finds comfort knowing how much knowledge that he contributed to DG. I know he was highly respected by many here at DG. There have been many times when reading a thread Dad started helped me through my grief. I felt Blessed to have a piece of him still with me, and still do. I hope the family may find some peace in knowing of my experience.
My thoughts and prayers for you, at this time of grief for you.
With Deepest Sympathy,
Walk In Beauty~
SingingWolf

Brian, what in the world am I going to do without you to clean up all the cream cakes and supply the ladies with their afternoon tipple in the Tea Room ?.
Those cheeky dry remarks will be sadly missed.
Have fun with all those cacti in the Great Beyond.
Jean.

Blessings are sent to your family in this time of grief,
but they can rejoice in memories of you.
Blessings to all.
Charleen

Although I did not personally "know" Brian, DG is a much better place thanks to his contributions, helping spirit and beautiful photographs. I pray for peace for his family during this time.

All of Brian's family would like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts and words which helped tremendously over the past week. We have all said our goodbyes to him now and hope that he is resting peacefully. In the past 2 years he has crammed my head full of cactus and succulent names and I just hope that now I can remember them and make him proud. We also got pretty intrigued with Brugmansias and had many a wonderful moment when we viewed their flowers and smelled their beautiful perfume for the first time.. I now am going to bring his brugs home to my place and wait to see seedlings bloom that no-one has ever seen before. You never know there may be an extra special one among them which I will be able to name for him. Thank you everyone once again. Colleen

Beautiful Colleen. I read the poem. It is wonderful.

What a beautiful poem Colleen! I hope the Brugs are beautiful for you;o)

Brian brought such fun and humor into the Tea Room, and I will sadly miss him. Colleen, I know he will watch over you, your boys and your family and will send you tips on taking care of his precious brug babies as well as his cacti and succulents. He was a special friend to all he touched on DG, and I'm sure throughout his life. Hugs to you, and lovely poem!
Louise

What a wonderful tribute to his Memory, it would be, finding a Brug that no one has ever seen before. Please, do keep us posted.
It was indeed a lovely poem, and each of us travels our own road, if we're lucky, even for a short time, we find companionship along the way. : - )
Don't worry right now about remembering the names of all his Brug babies and the cactus and succulents. I'm pretty sure he left them for you here on DG. : - )
My thoughts and prayers continue to be with you all.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Brian, Is Leisa up there with you? Take care of her eh?

Comforting thought, isn't it?

That and knowing that my Dad and he are probably having a grand time swapping lies, umm, I mean stories. LOL!
It is a comforting thought knowing they are together. So much knowledge.
I have found a great deal of comfort from the posts, photos and threads left here on DG by my Dad, and hope Brian's friends and family does too.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Brian now has his 48 year old son, who passed on Monday, with him. It's not been a very good year, but I take solace in the kinds words that you've all written and know now that they're free from pain. Colleen

Gosh, Colleen,
That's so sad, and as trite as it sounds, I'm glad they are no longer in pain. My heart goes out to you, his friends and of course the family. At least, they are together now, in a better place.
My thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

Sorry to hear that Colleen. Brian will be pleased to see him, and with leisa there too, they'll be having a nice reminiss (not sure of spelling) All of them taken from us by the same dreadfull disease! I made a donation to ovarian cancer for Leisa, but there are many other cancer organisations that could do with our support too. Wish i had enough money to donate to them all.