Joe was my brother in law until a few days ago when he passed away after nearly four years in a rest home /hospital. I first met this man when he began to hang around our store. He was always perfectly dressed and groomed and I thought he was there to see me as we always had good conversation. Actually he was there to see my sister who lived in the apartment in the back. After a while they became good friends and married.He brought stability to the marriage and was a good father to Glenda's two children. He nurtured them as best he could and adopted them as his own. Many happy things happened in their life and Joe was so proud of his kids. For Joe to see his son graduate from university was a thrill and his daughters become mothers made him a happy grandfather.
Joe was a person who had several loves. He rarely had a negative expression but dwelt on his positive relationship with groups. His first love was for AA who he said saved his life and made him a productive and whole person. His work in this organization has been recognized over and over. I attended camp meetings with Joe as a speaker and saw first hand his contributions. In a humorous way he tried to recruit me but I told him I would stick to the Liberal Party instead. He always laughed at my response.
Joe loved the Rotary club and tried to live up to their code of conduct. He was very active and was awarded the highest honour the club can give. He served the club and the community with distinction.
Joe loved his work as a moving company manager. He gave me advice one day when he told me never to show your political colours when you are in the moving business. Well some people wear their heart on their sleeve but Joe wore the Tory Blue on his shoulder patch ... unless the customer was a liberal, or and NDP. You see Joe was a Valley Boy and had the gift of the gab.
Joe loved family and often spoke of his Mom and life on the farm in Renfrew. He loved his siblings and his children and he loved Glenda until the day he died. We in the Brown family loved Joe and shared his suffering and his good times alike. We were all better off for knowing this family member.
A marvelous tribute to this man that was such a positive addition to all of you in the Brown family. You write with respect and love. It is so hard to loose someone at any time.
ReplyDeleteMy family name on my mom's side is Brown and I can trace it at least three generations.
One of the first things I did when I came home tonight was fire up the laptop and went looking for your blog...glad I found it...wonderfully written ..he would have blushed. Lori
ReplyDeleteThe last time I visited with Joe he told me that he knew he was never going home ... and that it was ok. He marvelled at the life he had lived and the love he'd had. He spoke of the love he had for his 3 children and grandchildren.... and for "his girl". I hope his send off befitted the man he was.
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