Dotcomfox256

Bryan Heffernan passed away Friday, March 15th ending a 2 year battle with cancer. One of Bryan’s greatest joys in life was computer science, and we, his family, are creating a scholarship in his name to help spread his passion to the world.
As his brother, I am proud to share a paragraph from his eulogy:
“Bryan was an artist behind a computer. At age 15, his Minecraft Company, Emenbee Realms, hosted over 1 million unique players and reached a top 10 international ranking. Following his technological talent in high school, Bryan continued studying computer science at RPI where he excelled. Even after Bryan left school, his passion pushed him to take online classes, create cutting edge projects, and collaborate with a world renowned professor. As a computer science student myself, Bryan loved sharing his work with me. Similarly, I loved listening. These conversations with him helped to inspire my own interests and is also why we are creating a scholarship in his name; so that his love of technology can continue to inspire others.”
https://www.emenbee.net/
A few days ago, we received numerous letters from Bryan’s friends praising him for how much he taught them over the years. I’d like to share one of these letters:
“I met Bryan seven years ago, when I was 12 and lied about my age to get a role on his server as a volunteer moderator. Ever since, he took me under his wing, teaching me everything from leadership skills to user experience and web development to using artificial intelligence. Over those seven years, he helped me transition from a player to an administrator to a real, effective software engineer, and it is because of him and the experiences and skills he gave me that I graduated high school as president of the robotics team and decided to pursue a lifetime career in Computer Science. It was working on Bryan’s server I first Learned how to code, and it was following in his footsteps that led me to spend hours learning about software architecture and networking, and it was his mentorship that pushed me further and further to succeed. Whenever I had a technical or personal question, I knew I could come to Bryan for help, even as his health worsened and he was spending more time in the hospital. The last seven years of my life were heavily influenced and inspired by the actions, sentiments, and insights that Bryan gave me, and he has done more to shape my future than I could possibly ever explain in words. Bryan was one of the most forward-thinking, intelligent, thoughtful, and caring people we ever had the pleasure of working with and learning from. He cared very deeply about his players and the people that helped him run his business, and had an inspiring passion for the technology used to manage his servers. He was truly an innovator, a mentor, and a friend to those he impacted through his time running a community that was an important part of the lives of tens of thousands of children and adults from across the world. The platform that Bryan created was for many an escape from mundane or unfortunate circumstances, a place where you could have fun with friends and strangers alike, and the positive influence that Bryan had on us all unrepayable.”
https://redd.it/b4i8vg
All donations go to the Bryan P. Heffernan Scholarship Fund which goes to a talented computer science student graduating from the Groton-Dunstable Regional High School.
Optional donation method:
c/o Elizabeth Pierson
Peoples United Bank
One Post Office Square
Boston, MA 02109