Brian Marshall White passed away on August 5th, 2025, from ALS. By his side was his beloved wife of 19 years Sarah (Sadie) Munson and his pride and joy, his daughter Ellen, age 10.

Born in Athens, Greece May 20, 1977, and raised in California and Washington, Brian spent his adult life living and working around the world with his final adventure being in Montreal, Quebec. Always one to follow his own path, Brian was hard to fit into a mold (ask his exasperated high school teachers) and his unique way of looking at problems allowed him to work in all sorts of environments from education to communication.

After graduating from the University of Washington in 1998 with an honors degree in economics, Brian spent 2 years living and working in Japan where he taught English and became fluent in Japanese. His next adventure was joining the Peace Corps in 2001 where he was sent as an English teacher to Kyrgyzstan. His tenure was cut short by 9-11 but he met his future wife Sadie there so it was not a complete wash. Following their evacuation from Kyrgyzstan, Brian and Sadie were reassigned with the Peace Corps to Mongolia, where Brian thrived in a small town in the central steppe, living in a yurt, collecting water from the river, riding horses on a wooden saddle, and learning Mongolian-one of the coolest languages out there.

Cornell University was the next lucky host of his brain and he graduated with a MA in Public Administration on May 28, 2006. He and Sadie got married the day before in an apple orchard owned by distant relatives of Sadie’s, surrounded by close family and friends.

Brian’s first job out of graduate school was as Resident Director of the American Center for Mongolian Studies (ACMS) in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Once asked why he applied for a Director position right out of school he said one of his favorite phrases “you don’t ask, you don’t get”. The job didn’t pay much but Brian always felt that if you took a job based on the challenge it gave you the money would follow, and he was right. During his 3 years as Resident Director he helped expand the size and breadth of the center and established himself as a burgeoning scholar on Mongolian politics, economics, and society.

Following two years in Madison, Wisconsin where Sadie studied for her graduate degree, Brian and Sadie moved back to Mongolia, this time to the Gobi Desert. Brian continued to work for the ACMS remotely and it was here in 2011 that he performed one of his most impressive feats by turning a blog into a consulting position at Rio Tinto’s copper mine Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia. Brian used his MacGyver skills to wire his yurt with the internet; an impressive feat in a small town without running water and where electricity was a pleasant surprise. When everyone else was using their generators to watch Korean dramas Brian used his to code (albeit so slowly that he often napped between tasks) and to write his education blog Tsaagan.com and Themongolist.com: a blog about Mongolian politics and economics. Looking at topics from his trademark sideways viewpoint, he wrote articles as varied as the economic impact of mining in Mongolia, bribery in the government, and the sheeple index (sheep to human ratio). It did not take long for him to be recruited by the communications team at Oyu Tolgoi which led to a 14 year career and multiple roles with Rio Tinto in Mongolia, the US, and Canada.

His penultimate role, and the one that he was most proud of, was as Director of Communications at Iron Ore Company of Canada. He joked that when he started he was a real box of snakes (not from Labrador or even Canada and he didn’t speak French well) but it didn’t take long before he was leading his team into new and exciting territory. His only regret was that his illness cut his time in this role short. During this time he also was on the board of directors for the Ronald McDonald House in Newfoundland and Labrador which he took great pride in.

Brian was a big believer in family over work and his favorite memories were with Sadie and Ellen traveling the world. In his spare time Brian enjoyed reading high level math and science books, running, having deep conversations (more like polite arguments), doing handy work to his very exacting standards, and exploring his neighborhood wherever that may be. It didn’t take much for him to be happy-just another way he was a role model to those who loved him.

In addition to Sadie and Ellen (hey, love you favorite) Brian is survived by his parents Phillip (Yvonne) White and Kim (Kevin) Sullivan, his sisters Jeniver Tristan and Erin Sullivan, in-laws Joy (Frank) Clason and Richard (Elizabeth Birch) Munson, his brother-in-law David (Mayumi Fujii) Munson, his best friend John Thoreson, and his honorary Mongolian mother and sister X. Darikhuu and D. Tsend-Ayoush. He also leaves behind countless friends all over the world to whom he says goodbye, au revoir, баяртай and さようなら.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Ellen’s college fund at ugift529.com code C06-J5R (US based banking establishment only) or at https://gofund.me/d7515aca. And go learn something new in Brian’s honor. Brian was always seeking to more deeply understand the world, himself, and those around him. If he were here he would listen to you, ask a lot of deep questions and then thank you for expanding his mind. 

A memorial service will be held in Montreal, QC  on October 10, 2025.

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