Jack Brown
Guest Contributor
My father, Joe Brown, grew up in rural South Carolina. In this poor farming community during the Great Depression, he learned early to rely on his instincts, wit and perseverance.
At the beginning of WWII at only 17 he quit high school and joined the Marines. A year later he was carrying a flame thrower in the Pacific. Here again he relied on his instincts, wit and perseverance to survive and help his men.
He was a truck driver, a union organizer, a great salesman, a songwriter, a chef, an entrepreneur and a great teller of tall tales!
He had a keen sense of humor and often played jokes on his friends. Like when he had a horse delivered to his brother-in-laws backyard late on Christmas Eve. The bro-in-law didn’t think it was very funny, at least not until he got even.
My father was a bit of a raconteur; a likeable con man. He bought, sold and traded almost anything he could make a profit on.
And he was loyal. He was loyal to his friends, family, country and faith.
He taught me to judge men by whether or not they gave their best and kept their word and not by their appearance or station in life. And he taught me by his actions and not words, that failures are only speedbumps and not stop signs.
His legacy to me has been to enjoy life, keep a sense of humor, trust my instincts, be a little wild, be loyal to my friends, and if I want something bad enough, don’t quit!
He would have loved MDI!