Rockville Centre man runs to remember late brother

For Kenny Owens, every mile was for his brother.

The Rockville Centre resident ran 27 miles through the village in 24 hours on Wednesday in honor of the final 27 days of the life of his younger brother, Kevin Owens. Kevin spent those days in the intensive care unit at Mercy Hospital before succumbing to cancer on April 6, 2017, at age 39.

“It means everything to me,” Kenny, 46, said. “I just wanted to raise money to put awareness out there for other families that are struggling, and let them know that it’s OK to talk about it, to be vulnerable about it and let people know that there are a lot of people out there to help if they need it.”

Owens’s clothing company, Buoy4, partnered with the Tommy Brull Foundation for the second annual Kevin Owens Run to Remember, in which Owens and others ran a 4.5-mile loop around Rockville Centre every four hours, starting at 4 a.m. and repeating at 8 a.m., noon, 4 p.m., 8 p.m. and midnight.

The run is dedicated to other local families who lost loved ones, and to the memories of Dane Kasschau, Pete Fernandez, Natalie Persico and Jamison Novello, all from Rockville Centre. The funds raised will be donated to three foundations — the Dane Austin Kasschau Fund, Natalie’s Wings and Jamison Novello’s Still Sparking Broadway Dance Center Scholarship Fund — as well as the Fernandez Education Trust.

Owens turned to the Rockville Centre community for support, and welcomed anyone who was interested in walking or running a leg of the event. Each run was to begin at Kenny’s home on Lee Avenue, and there were plans for music, food and drinks at the start and end of each loop, which passed the house of each family the event supported.

To help raise funds, Owens partnered with Martin Brull, who started the Tommy Brull Foundation in 2008 in honor of his younger brother, who died in 1999, at age 23, in an accident near the Williamsburg Bridge. Martin and Tommy, who were just 17 months apart, were close, and Martin said he was pleased to be able to help other families dealing with the loss of loved ones.

“I really admire Kenny’s passion and determination to do this in his brother’s memory,” Brull said. “He’s really interested in turning something that isn’t necessarily a high point in your life into something positive, and doing it in his brother’s memory. He’s really into it, and really wants to help out others in the community that have gone through similar losses.”

Brull added that he planned to take part in at least one leg of the event, and that he and Owens have a lot in common besides the loss of a brother when they were young.

Kenny and Kevin were the oldest and second-oldest of  Thomas and Elizabeth Owens’s nine children. Kenny said that because they were only 17 months apart, he and Kevin were close, and their bond grew stronger after their brother Patrick died of a congenital heart problem in 1997.

They grew up in East Rockaway, where Kenny and Kevin both developed a love of the water. Kenny, who has lived in Rockville Centre for 16 years, said he had fond memories of fishing with his brother when they were young.

“That’s the bond that brings all of us together,” Kenny said of his family. “We were always on the water. When my brother was a kid, nothing kept him off the water.”

Kenny’s love of the water led to him establishing Buoy4, with four of his friends, whose slogan is, “We choose the water.” The company donates $1 from each sale to local water conservation groups, such as Operation SPLASH in Freeport.

Kevin dealt with health problems early in life, but his brother described him as a “pillar of strength.” When he was 11, doctors discovered a malignant tumor on his tailbone, but after radiation and chemotherapy, it went into remission when he was 14. Kevin went on to work as a first mate for a private fishing boat called No Time based in Oceanside, but in 2010 his cancer returned, and one of his legs had to be amputated. Then his home was heavily damaged in Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and he lived with Kenny and his family for a long time afterward.

Despite losing his leg, Kevin remained an avid fisherman. Kenny fondly recalled that after the procedure, his brother hauled in a pesky tuna after a four-hour battle 100 miles offshore. But because he was unable to work on the water due to his declining health, Kevin worked in his family trucking business, Owens Truckman, but was in and out of the hospital.

In March 2017, he was rushed to Mercy, where it was determined that the cancer had spread to other parts of his body. He died two weeks shy of his 40th birthday.

Last year, Kenny was training to compete in a run when he came up with the idea of running in his brother’s memory. He ended up raising $6,000 at the inaugural Kevin Owens Run to Remember, which he donated to Mercy Hospital. This year he decided to expand his efforts to help other local families. 

In addition to his siblings, Kevin is survived by his son, Cole, 11, and 19 nieces and nephews, including Kenny’s daughter, Kailey, 18, who was Kevin’s goddaughter. 

Kenny said that his wife, Mary Ellen, has been a great supporter for him, and he hoped the run would be a cathartic experience for others who have suffered a significant loss. “They can just come to remember people that they might have lost,” he said. “When you’re running, you have time to think about things. We don’t want to think backward, but moving forward, we don’t want to take for granted the time we have here. We want to help others the best that we can.”

To donate to the cause, find @Tommy-Brull on the cash transfer app Venmo.