Brian attended schools in Flint and served in the Army in Germany as the Berlin Wall was falling. He was honored with the City of Flint Human Relations Commission Police/Community Relations Award in 2001, and on February 20, 2006 President George W. Bush personally presented Brian with the President's Volunteer Service Award. (Willingham was recently profiled in a subtopia "If there is life in Flint . . ." post by Bryan Finoki.)