Brian James Doyle passed away on Wednesday, June 21 from pancreatic cancer. He was in his 81st year.

Brian was predeceased by wife Joy (2004); brothers Tom, Ted and John; and sister Myrtle. He grew up in Hamilton, Ont.

Brian leaves his family of three sons Jeff, David (Nicole) and Keith; grandchildren Dale, Kira, and Kendall; his girlfriend Pat Walker; and present and past employees.

In 1967, he started his business transporting horses, at the age of 25, with one truck under Brian Doyle Horse Transport.

Brian Doyle Horse Transport is now doing business as Doyle Bloodstock Transportation, and is a family business that grew -- the number of trucks and vans increased, as did the number of employees that the Doyle family was proud to provide work for.

The business included a maintenance and manufacturing shop, where the Doyles started manufacturing and building the vans for the trucks as well as the air stalls for the horses on airplanes.

In the late 1980s, Brian expanded his business to include flying horses overseas and acting as agent for foreign buyers with a separate company (Doyle Air Cargo).

In 1991, he and Joy purchased farmland, and continued to build the business, including layover and quarantine facilities for horses. He shipped horses for his clients to and from Scotland, England, Ireland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Wales, Norway, Denmark, Finland, France and New Zealand.

Brian owned Standardbreds with Stew and Joanne Firlotte, Dr. David Powell, James (Friday) Dean, Sandra Burns and others. His favourite horse was Buttafuco, trained by Dennis MacPherson and Tracey Troy. Buttafuco is now 29 years old and still enjoying retirement on Brian’s farm.

Brian admired and firmly believed in hard work and he didn’t back away from a challenge. No job was too daunting or too trivial for him. He cleaned the office, cleaned stalls, drove the trucks, flew with the horses, built fencing, handled administrative paperwork, worked on the farm, attended horse sales as agent, helped load horses, handled pre and post-import quarantines, and anything else that needed to be done. His work ethic was well respected. He did not give up in the face of adversity, and sometimes succeeded with sheer determination.

Brian’s son David will continue management and operation of the trucking business Doyle Bloodstock Transportation.

Cremation has taken place and arrangements for a private burial will be held, in accordance with Brian’s wishes.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Brian Doyle.