Brent Thomas Cockrell, 25, was born on December 6, 1995 at Florida Hospital Orlando and resided in the same family home in Altamonte Springs for most of his life. Brent is survived by his parents, Daniel (Dan) Cockrell and Mary (Shestak) Cockrell, his sister Laura Cockrell, and his beloved rescue dog Lulu.

Brent grew up with a loving family in Florida. Brent spent numerous summer vacations in Wisconsin, the home state of his parents. The distance and time between visits did not impede the inseparable bonds Brent forged with his grandparents, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. Brent was also fortunate to further strengthen these bonds as family made their vacation trips to central Florida and eventually all four grandparents made Florida a winter residence.

With immediate family one thousand miles away, Brent was able to form bonds with his "Florida family". The families in his neighborhood, schools, and Brent's various sports teams impacted Brent greatly.

Brent excelled academically. He graduated from LBHS in May of 2014 and attended UCF from July 2014 to May 2017.

Brent had a love for sports which started with youth soccer, followed by t-ball, flag football, Pop Warner football and LBHS lacrosse. College football was Brent's favorite sport to follow. Brent became an avid Wisconsin Badgers football fan as he eagerly watched the games alongside his father and analyzed them for several days after. He had the opportunity to attend Wisconsin Badger games at Camp Randall stadium in Madison Wisconsin and various bowl games in Florida. Brent also relished in the opportunity to attend a Super Bowl game in Miami with his father.

Brent was a member of the LBHS band for four years in the trombone section. He was passionate about all music, but particularly groups that incorporated brass instruments, such as his favorite group, Streetlight Manifesto.

Early on, Brent developed a love of fantasy books which started when his father read him the first two Harry Potter books before bed each night until Brent's reading skills were mastered. He remained an avid reader and was proud of his book collection with his most recent favorites being the Wheel of Time Series and Stormlight Archives.

Movies were also important to Brent. He would see a movie and retain all the specifics as if he had seen it numerous times. A cherished family activity was re-watching the movies he enjoyed or listening to Brent quote certain lines from the movies.

Brent's kind heart was admired by all that had the opportunity to know and love him and he was taken from us too soon. May he be at peace now.

In lieu of flowers the family requests a donation be made in Brent's name to the National Alliance on Mental Illness Florida: https://namiflorida.org

The family of Brent Thomas Cockrell invites you to leave a message of condolence on the Tribute Wall created in his loving memory.