His father, Erwin Brandt, was an officer of the cavalry regiment governed by the Czarina, the wife of the last Russian Emperor. His mother, Magdalene, was a daughter of well known purveyor of Champagnes of France to the Imperial Court. When the Bolshevics seized power in Russia the newlyweds had to leave their motherland for good and emigrated to Egypt. After his mother's sudden death baby Cyril was reared in Copenhagen, Denmark by his father and his aunt Vera who had three children of her own. Cyril graduated from the Royal Danish Institute of Technology with a B.S., and later with a M.S. in Civil Engineering and left Europe for Argentina. There in 1948 he married Maria Satin Shriver, also a Russian emigree.. In 1959 Cyril with his wife and daughter Tatiana emigrated to the U.S. He made a wonderful career at Kaiser Aluminum, Inc. thanks to his profound education received in Denmark and the ability to speak almost all main European languages. He worked in Norway, France for seven years, New Caledonia, Spain, and Algeria. On completing his assignments abroad, Cyril returned to Los Angeles and later to San Francisco where he acquired his Broker's License and became active in real estate investments. In 1980 he and Maria moved to Houston where his wife later died of cancer in 1988. Two years later he married Vera Kourakina Donigan, a doctor of Philosphy. This wedlock turned to be the real happy union of two Christians sharing their knowledge on history and the modern world. Cyril was noble and humble who touched the hearts of many people, especially those who were lost and faced adversity. After 1991 he made several trips to Russia where he brought some young people closer to Christ. Cyril is survived by his loving wife Vera; daughter Tatiana Copeland & husband Gerrett of Wilmington, Delaware; step-daughter Elena Wunderlich & husband Lawrence of Houston; nieces Susanne Boye and Karin Holstein of Copenhagen, Denmark; great niece Camile Peterson of Oslo, Denmark; second cousin Sergei de Bray of Australia; second-cousins Theodore and Helen de Bray of London, England.