For My Father ~ Birl Randolph Brown, Sr.

I wrote this last year at the request of my pastor, who wanted a little background info on my dad in preparation for the funeral, and just came across it today. So, since in June, we mark the anniversary of my father's death, and his birth, celebrate Father's Day, and also remember his wedding anniversary to my mom, I thought it might be appropriate to reprint it here...

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I don't know how to begin to put down in words….especially short words…all that my father was. A brief history would take days to speak, much less to read, but I will do my best.

Daddy was born on June 14, 1920 in rural South Georgia, the oldest of 6 children. He finished the 8^th grade before being forced to leave school to help support the growing family. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 at the beginning of World War II, and was in the 2^nd armored division, serving as General Patton's personal radio operator. Before the war was over, he had served in 7 major theatres of operation across North Africa and Europe, including the invasion at Normandy, met the Russians at the Elba River at the end of the war, and had earned a Bronze Star for his excellence in keeping 2 crews of electricians leap-frogging in front of the advancing army, setting up communications tents for the commanding officers, sometimes twice a day .

Upon returning from the war, he worked for GA Power for ten years, during which time he met my mother, Maudie. They had a wonderful marriage, which gave them 3 children over the course of 27 years…their oldest daughter, Ann, an only son, Randy (who later died in 1987), and me. Right after I was born in 1963, my mother was diagnosed with M.S., and daddy took care of her for 10 years, often working 2 or 3 jobs to support the family, while also putting himself through law school. By the time of my mother's death in 1972, I was the only one living at home, and daddy went to work for Southern Bell, accepting a job in the central office in Forest Park, where he met my mom.

Kitty, who had one daughter, Sheryl, from a previous marriage, was in the middle of going through a very painful divorce, and that pain of separation was no stranger to my recently widowed dad. They bonded immediately, marrying on June 21, 1974. During their 33 year marriage, they were soul mates like no others have ever been. Where one ended, the other began. One's weaknesses were the other's strengths. They fought…and loved… fiercely, for they were nothing if not passionate. And that passion encompassed their entire lives, spreading out into everything they touched, and into everyone they loved.

As their children grew, and married, and had grandchildren, and then great-grandchildren, my father's legacy continued to grow. He valued knowledge above all things, and reveled in sharing that knowledge with his grandchildren. Everything in his life was used as an instrument to teach lessons, using his personal history, as well as his knowledge of the world at large. This is the main reason his granddaughter, Alaina, became a school teacher. He was a 32^nd degree Freemason, having received that legacy from his maternal grandfather, which ultimately inspired his grandson, Brandon, to also join the Fraternal Order. And his love of poetry and use of words inspired his granddaughter, Jessica, to also become a poet.

The older he got, the more his world narrowed down to a single window…his computer, and the internet…in which he never tired. His love of reading and writing prose and poetry grew and expanded into a world of geneology, which he shared by email with distant and not-so-distant relatives all across the country, becoming active in the geneological web community, helping others to find links to their past, and sharing the masses of information he had accumulated to anyone who might be interested , as well as many who were not.

My daddy loved to talk and communicate above all things, and no one was immune to being "captured" by him. If he had a story to tell, a bit of information to share, or an opinion about something, anyone in the immediate vicinity was going to hear it…whether it was invited, relevant or appropriate at the time may have been up to anyone's guess, but no matter, it was always, without fail, interesting!

Throughout his life, my dad had always been of a spiritual bent, although not in the traditional sense, but in his last year, he found himself turning more toward the inward parts, and considered his pastor a spiritual soul-mate.

My father was truly a unique individual. There will never, ever be another one like him, and the legacy that he has left to his 10 grandchildren, and 5 (soon to be 7) great-grandchildren, will not only be never forgotten, but continue to be passed on for generations to come.

In summary, my daddy was a WWII veteran, poet, scholar, theologian, Freemason, amateur radio operator, pilot, historian, tri-lingual world-traveller (he was fluent in both French and German), storyteller par excellence, avid reader and web surfer, electrician, scientist, patriarch, and most importantly, he was a most humble servant of the Lord.