Brianna Katherine Beswick

Mar 26, 1991 -

Aug 31, 2026

Brianna passed away peacefully on Aug. 31, 2026, from colon cancer. She lived life to the fullest to the end.

Brianna was born in Chicago, Ill., first child for her parents and first grandchild - and beloved only granddaughter - on her mother's side.

At age 5, the family moved to Bozeman, Mont., which Brianna always considered home. She had an idyllic childhood full of books, exploring the outdoors and fighting with her younger brother. In high school she excelled at Speech and Debate and represented Montana in Nationals in both Lincoln-Douglas and Policy debate.

Brianna graduated Harvard College class of 2013, and Harvard Law School class of 2018. While in law school, she became an active member of the Harvard Mountaineering Club, through which she learned skills enabling her to adventure across the U.S. and abroad, with many lifelong friends made in the process. She particularly enjoyed mountaineering with the HMC in the Cordillera Blanca in Peru in 2017, as well as a solo climbing trip to Yangshuo, China, between law school finals and graduation in 2018.

Brianna first traveled to Alaska in summer 2015 for a law school internship and had no trouble choosing Anchorage as the place to settle post-graduation. She clerked for Chief Judge Marjorie Allard of the Alaska Court of Appeals before exploring her legal career, trying out work first as a divorce attorney at Mendel Colbert & Associates Inc., later family defense counsel at the Alaska Public Defender Agency, animal welfare litigator at Legal Impact for Chickens (LIC) a startup by a fellow law classmate of hers. She finally returned to criminal and family defense as an attorney serving the Bethel region of western Alaska. She poured her heart into her clients in all of her roles and lived her career as an attorney with the goal of helping people understand and have someone beside them while navigating imperfect systems during often the most difficult periods of their lives. Many of her clients shared with her the impact she had on them, for which she is most grateful and honored.

Brianna met her life partner, Nathaniel "Nate" Solnit, when he was looking for ice climbing partners shortly after both moved permanently to Alaska in 2018. They held a wedding on Nov. 11, 2023, in Anchorage, and legally married on June 19, 2025. Throughout the 7 1/2 years the two were able to spend together, they enjoyed backcountry skiing, live music and spending time with their rescue dog, Ollie. Brianna is forever grateful for Nate's unwavering support and love during her illness. Being unable to be with him for longer and be parents together was her largest source of sadness while contemplating death.

Throughout her adult life, Brianna took frequent time off for adventures. Highlights included hiking 1300 miles of the Pacific Crest trail in 2016-17, trail name "Pika"; ski bumming in Bozeman for a winter; and frequent – often spontaneous – international travel, including a solo week in Japan less than a year before her death. After Brianna's "retirement" to disability in fall 2025, she found meaning and purpose in working through her life with various therapy modalities, reading, being active as much as she could be and soaking up her remaining time in Alaska with her chosen community.

She is survived by Nate and Ollie; her parents, Rick and Paula; brother, Spencer (Aurora); niece, Marigold; grandmother, Nancy Cole; and many extended family and friends.

A celebration of life and potluck reception will take place at 3 p.m., on Sept. 19, 2026, in Anchorage, at the Fox Hollow Chalet, 11701 Brayton Drive. A second honoring will take place in Bozeman, on Oct. 10, 2026, at 2 p.m., at the Big Yellow Barn, 9466 Springhill Road.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Colontown, colontown.org/in-memoriam-giving/, the cancer community that made all the difference in Brianna's experience of navigating stage IV cancer or to any local theater/music/social services.

"We clump together in our sorrow. In joy we may wander off in our separate directions, but in sorrow we prefer to hold hands." - Ann Patchett