An elite knife-maker, who was forced to leave high school, has left a legacy of helping students reach their potential.
“Brian had a passion for students that weren’t on the straight academic path,” said Scott Morrison, Christ the Redeemer Catholic Schools superintendent. “The kids that wanted to work with their hands, the kids who had the skills in life that aren’t always prized by academia. He had a real heart for the kids at St. Luke’s and those interested in the trades.”
Brian Lyttle, a trustee for the Foothills region for CTR Catholic, died on Feb. 10 at the age of 72 after battling respiratory issues for a number of years.
Lyttle knew first-hand about hard work and hardship for students.
“Dad dropped out of school when he was 15 (Grade 11) after the family came to Canada from living in Belfast,” said Brian’s son Kieran. “He could see that his family was struggling so he went to work with his father in a metal shop and started an apprenticeship. Brian told his parents that the reason for this was that he didn’t want a desk job… the true reason being that he saw the family needed help but he didn’t feel the need to shame anyone.”
It was love that got him back in the classroom.
“When my father met my mother (Leonie) she encouraged him to go to university as he was getting tired of the metal shops,” Kieran said. “So he met and interviewed with admissions from the University of Calgary and convinced the official to admit him on the basis of adult privileges without the benefit of a high school diploma.”
Lyttle went on to become a welding, art and English teacher at Bishop Grandin High School.
However, he gave up teaching and turned to the trades at his Longview area home approximately 40 years ago.
“He said that he did enjoy his teaching career but he did not like the fact that he could not take the fall season off for hunting,” Kieran said. “So he quit and returned to his metal working trade and became a self-employed contractor and then turned his talents to his true career of knife-making for well over 30 years.”
His knife-making was of what legends were made.
“Dad had originally met Brad Pitt when he was in the area shooting Legends of the Fall (in the early 1990s) and Brad inquired with some of the area locals who to talk to about knives, all advice lead him to Brian,” Kieran said.
About a decade later, Pitt would return to the Calgary area to shoot The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford. He purchased more knives from Lyttle.
“My dad asked Brad who he could talk to about getting a couple of tickets to the wrap party and Brad thought for a moment before the realization struck him and he gave his head a shake and said “well that’s something I can do for you…I should have the power to do that,’” Kieran explained.
“My mom and dad were placed on a list under guest of Mr. Pitt and when they arrived at the party Brad made a point of finding Brian and spending some time talking with him. Even Hollywood actors enjoyed engaging with Brian.”
A picture of Pitt having a coffee with Brian and his children at their Longview home is on Lyttle’s website. Lyttle’s knives were also used in the Anthony Hopkins-Alec Baldwin film The Edge.
Ed Storch, a renowned knife-maker in his own right, got his start from Lyttle.
“Thirty-five years ago I was teaching pottery at Lakeland College in Vermilion and Brian came up and taught a course in knife-making,” said Storch, who now works out of Mannville. “I really liked what he did and I quit making pots and have made knives ever since... He had a very strong personality.”
Storch called Lyttle among a handful of top knife-makers in North America – if not the world.
“His fine-motor control and his sense of artistic design are just unparalleled,” Storch said. ”I had the basics already, but Brian gave me refinement every time I talked to him. I would learn a lot more about fine detail work... I don’t have words to say how good he was.”
Okotoks trustee Ron Schreiber served with Lyttle on the CTR Catholic board since 2010.
“He was a wonderful debater around the table,” he said.
“He was a great believer in lifetime learning. He believed in freedom to be the best you can be – to pursue excellence.”
Schreiber said that excellence was aimed at pupils not only in hitting the books, but in students learning trades and being good citizens in their community and with the church.
Morrison has a reminder of Lyttle’s excellence.
He has the second-to-last knife Lyttle made.
“He was heart-felt for the kids going in the trades, but he also had a challenge for them,” Morrison said. “That was learn a lot – be a tradesman, but be a brilliant tradesman, who not only knows things about the trade but the world.
“To Brian, the trades were an occupation of nobility.”
He was also a family man who loved the Foothills backcountry near Longview and the Highwood River.
“One of Dad’s goals for us kids growing up was to give us the childhood experience that he didn’t get.” Kieran said.
“He ensured that we lived in a beautiful part of the country where we could see the mountains and were close to a river. As a family I remember working together preparing food and loading the wagon that he had built then rigging it up to our horse ‘Sky’ and heading down to the river for the day of fishing or an overnight stay.
“This was such an important part of growing up, at the time it just seemed normal. As we all grew up it became clear how important those lessons on work and enjoying the nature around us were.”
Lyttle is survived by his wife of 45 years, Leonie; three children, Nicole (Jeff) Boynton, Kieran (Johanna) Lyttle, and Bryna (Daniel) Ronald; and four grandchildren.
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