Thompson Center Arms *
97D Rifle/BF Pistol *
Encore Accuracy Barrels *
Savage Accuracy Barrels |
Obituary - Hector Mason Brown MD, 86Dr. Hector Mason Brown died Monday, January 18th, 2010. He was 86. Born Nov. 27, 1923 in Superior, WI and brought up in Bemidji, MN, young Hector was an avid stamp collector, Eagle Scout, and high school basketball star. He played in the "Final Four" while attending the University of Washington and then earned his Medical Doctorate degree from Cornell University Medical College in New York State. Dr. Brown served stateside in both the Navy and the Army before settling into medical practice in Walker, MN. While there, in addition to his medical practice, he was the coroner, chamber of commerce chairman, local scout master, and played a significant role in construction of the Walker Community Church. While living in Walker, Dr. Brown is said to have been among the first people to Water Ski as well as Scuba Dive in Leech Lake, and he had one of the first snowmobiles, a propeller driven "Snow Plane". At middle age, Dr. Brown moved his family to White Bear Lake, MN and
started a new medical practice in St. Paul. He enjoyed duck and pheasant
hunting, going to Viking games at the Met Stadium, and spending weekends at
Square Lake. After retirement, he spent a few golden Summers on Agency Bay,
Leech Lake before settling down in Alexandria, MN. He was very proud to be a
32nd Degree Mason and remained active with the Alexandria Area Shrine Club until
his death. Dr. Brown died peacefully after a year long bout with cancer. He is
survived by his wife Dorothy, daughter Christine Long (Michael), sons Dean Brown
(Patty), Eben Brown (Jill), daughter Angie Brown, and a long list of grand
children and great grandchildren that he was always so proud of. The Funeral
Service was Saturday, January 30th at 1:30 PM at the United Methodist Church in
Alexandria, MN. (Click Photo to Enlarge - Scroll Down for Eulogy)Eulogy for Hector Mason Brown, MD"Hector Mason Brown, MD", my father, was born into modest finances and he wasn't any richer financially when he died earlier this month... But in between birth and death were 86 years of a rich and full life, wealthy in personal achievement, proliferation and love of family, and generous contributions to society. His name alone was kind of an oddity... He was actually the 3rd "Hector Mason" in the family. The "Mason" part of the name traces back to a distant and distinguished relative that Mason City, Iowa was named after. My Dad's father Hector Mason Brown II was in charge of the 1937 Paul Bunyan Carnival that introduced the now famous Paul Bunyan statue that still stands in Bemidji, MN. My Dad was HMB III. My brother is Dean Hector Mason Brown. And there is yet another HMB, my oldest son "Hector Mason Brown IV" who lives and works in Glenwood Springs, CO.The day Dad died, I had to write his obituary in kind of a rush because of a business trip the following day. Even so, I was bowled over by remembering all of the achievements, contributions, and hobbies he managed to squeeze into his life. These were the things I could remember at that moment... But, a bunch more came to mind during the several days since then... Model Airplane and Railroad Building, Snow Skiing, and Coin Collecting for example. Always things that required intellectual study and skill. For example, my Dad taught himself to Scuba Dive before there were "Certified Diver" instruction classes. He bought and mastered a book entitled "DIVE" by Dick and Barbara Carrier. I know because I still have the book and its margins are loaded with Dad's hand written notations and memos. Diving is dangerous if you don't know what you're doing and Dad mastered the physics of compressed gases and liquids, Boyles Law, and the US Navy Decompression Tables. He bought all of his Diving Gear by mail order, and had to send his tanks by Greyhound bus to be refilled somewhere by someone with a Scuba compressor. A sense of purpose and accomplishment was present throughout most of my Dad's life. His achievement of the Eagle Scout badge carried over into his years as a Scout Master... He emphasized advancement and self discipline with all of his Boy Scouts, and today quite a number of them have gone on to achieve distinguished and successful lives. Dad was very proud of his Medical Doctor degree. But that too, I think he saw as a great accomplishment rather than a mission. A long time ago when I was applying to medical colleges myself (unsuccessfully), I asked him what he liked best about being a doctor. And I was totally shocked when he said, "I like the Prestige." I thought he was going to say something noble like how much he liked helping people or the study of anatomy or something. But it IS a huge accomplishment to become a medical doctor. People who achieve it definitely ARE a cut above the rest of us... And I can illustrate that. I was studying for the MCAT, a test that's like the SATs only for medical schools. And I was struggling with the vocabulary section. Actually, I was frustrated because after high school and three years of college, I still didn't know ANY of the words on the vocabulary list. I told Dad about it and he said, "What words?" So I gave him a couple, and he rattled off the meanings. I gave him some more and he knew them, too. Truth be told, he knew ALL of the vocabulary words on my MCAT study guide... Oh and he had fun with rubbing it in, too. Lets just say the “Prestige” that day was getting so deep it was almost more than I could stand! I was very young when Dad was chairman of the Walker, MN Chamber of Commerce. But I remember some 4th of July Parades, Ice Fishing Derbies, and Water Ski Shows he ramrodded. Once, we even had a bagpipe marching band that stayed overnight at our house. Complete with authentic plaid kilts, bonnets, and sashes. Bagpipe music always has a melody and a background hum... something like: "Da da-da de da-da da dump-de-dum... A-Whang... A-Whang..." Dad had some fun with that and made up a song, "Oh What Does the Scotchman Wear Under His Kilt... A-... Hmmm"... Can't say that in church! Yes, he had quite a sense of humor. In fact, my Dad was a Master Joke Teller... And like everything else it was a skill that he developed and took pride in. I remember him explaining the set up and timing of a well told joke. He illustrated it with a particularly funny joke that involved Wyatt Earp's Mother, a Piano Player, and a Colt 45 Revolver that was heavily coated in bacon grease... Ask me later and I'll tell you about it (Joke #1 - Below). Joke telling endeared him to many people and I dare say we all have wished we were as good at it as Dad. Not surprisingly, one of the last coherent things my Dad spoke from his deathbed was a joke. It was about a medical school anatomy professor giving a lecture on the male reproductive organ, the embarrassment of the female medical students, and some guy in Mexico City... Ask me later and I'll tell you about that one, too (Joke #2 - Below). Anyway, it was a funny joke. Dad struggled a bit with the punch line, but he still absolutely nailed it and had me, Eli, and Emily laughing out loud, as we sat there next to his deathbed. As a father, my Dad was tough... The original "Tough Love" template. We knew he was our absolute Ruler and we better do what he said or else. But the "or else" part wasn't all that bad... An extremely rare, bare handed, bare butt spanking. He gave no empty threats... If he said he'd spank you, he would. We could count on that and as a result, we did what he said, when he said it, and didn't get all that many spankings. The Bible says "Spare the Rod and Spoil the Child" but my Dad spanked with his bare hand. He explained that to me once after I grew up: You know, it stings your hand when you spank bare handed. Its a good reminder not to spank too hard, and to remember its an unpleasant job you have to do for a child's own good. "Tough Love"... Yes, Dad was tough, but he loved the heck out of us. When we were kids, he took us everywhere with him. Hunting and fishing, scuba diving, water skiing, picnics, boat rides, you name it. He reveled in the magic of Christmas morning gifts and decorations and he was a master at hiding Easter baskets. Usually he'd have all of the kids in the neighborhood looking for a "Golden Egg" that contained a silver dollar... Even the high school kids got into that one. And at home he'd wrestle on the floor with all four of us kids laughing and tickling, hugging, and razberrying. He kissed all of us on the mouth... Even when we grew up into adults. I never thought anything of it until I was in my twenties and a friend saw me and my Dad kiss each other on the mouth at a family gathering. "Weird, man..." is what my friend said. Yeah, Dad was weird alright. My Dad the weirdo mouth kisser of sons and daughters. Ha! And he never stopped enjoying and playing with children. When Dad and Mom had their retirement place up at Leech Lake the grand kids would go and see him. One of the stories is that he would plant Donut Seeds in the garden... They were actually Cheerios. He and the kids would plant and water them. And the next day the kids would go out in the garden and find fully grown donuts on sticks. How did he do that, anyway?... And Romantic? My Dad was a hopeless romantic and loved my Mom deeply. They kissed and hugged in front of us kids all the time. Dad always gave Mom roses and candy for Valentines Day and Anniversaries. But, I remember the one year that Dad forgot their anniversary. Mom took me aside that afternoon and said jokingly, "Lets see if he remembers by the time he gets home from work." Well, he didn't remember and when Mom laughed and said "Happy Anniversary Honey!" Dad looked a little odd... Like... "What's the Joke?" Later, he took me aside and asked me why I didn't call him about it. When I said Mom thought it was funny, he said "No she didn't... It hurt her feelings. Next time you call me... Us guys have to stick together!" There is one bad thing I should mention... One of the little idiosyncrasies of my Dad's personality. After all, nobody's perfect. From time to time, he would blurt out things that were either hurtful or insulting. It was weird because he didn't seem to think he'd said anything wrong. My sister Angie and I were joking around that maybe it was a form of Tourette's Syndrome... You know, that disease where a person can't keep himself from cursing? Yeah, real funny stuff... But this little negative was a part of Dad's personality and I think anyone who saw it might have got a bad impression... Especially if they didn't know all of the good stuff about him. When Mom and Dad moved up here to Alexandria, they left all of their friends and familiar places behind. I was very proud of how Dad got involved with the local Shrine Club and quickly made new friends all around town. It was a bit harder for my Mom, but Dad's new social connections extended themselves generously to include her. I'm grateful to all the folks who befriended and welcomed my Mom and Dad to Alexandria. I think I should say a few things about Dad and religion. He was kind of independent and kept a sense of humor about religion. For example, he said the Bible approves of smoking. He would give this quote, "Jacob awoke to find Esau a-lighting off a camel..." He had another one he said was a proverb that went like this, "Trust in the Lord, but tie your donkey..." Dad was kidding, of course, but we'd say "Where is that? Where did you find that in the Bible?" And he'd just laugh and say, "Look it up". When we were kids, Mom and Dad took us regularly to the Community Church in Walker, MN... The old Church building. The year before we moved away, Dad played a significant role in fund raising to build the current Walker Community Church building. Its located west of town near the marina. Our Church attendance wasn't as regular after we moved down to White Bear Lake. And then as we kids grew up and started our own families, we all went our separate ways. I believe we have all grown in our faith, but we did it at our own different Churches. Anyway, when Dad first became bedridden just after Christmas, I asked him if he was afraid of death and he said no. I asked if he was okay in his faith and he said, "Well, I'd like to have Communion." And so we got some Communion Wine and Bread and we did Communion. Jesus said that wherever two or more are gathered in His name, he would be there. So, with Jill, Mom and me by his side, Dad repeated the words to this prayer: "Dear Jesus I commit my soul to you. Come into my heart and mind. Take my life and do what you will." And with that, I believe he made his peace with the Lord. A day or two later, Dad began to fade pretty fast and needed more care than Mom could handle. The wonderful hospice people took him over to the Nursing Home and a little over two weeks later he died. Its still hard to believe and hard to accept that our father and Mom's husband is really gone. We will miss him. Joke #1 - The Joke Dad Used to Illustrate Set-Up and Timing in a Well Told Joke. Picture a dusty western town with tumbleweeds blowing in the street and a creaky saloon sign swinging back and forth in the wind. A gun slinger comes riding in, ties up his horse and walks into the saloon. He sees a fellow playing the piano while an old saloon girl listens. He walks over to the bar and orders a drink. As the bartender serves him, he asks, "What Do You Do fer FUN Around Here?" The bartender just ignores him. So the gunslinger swills down his drink and in a single fluid motion draws his gun and shoots off one of the piano player's cuff links. BLAM! The piano player doesn't miss a beat and continues playing. The old saloon girl just keeps listening. "I've been ridin' the range fer a month and I'm lookin' fer some excitement." says the gunslinger, "Gimme a nuther drink at least." The bartender silently serves him another drink and walks away. So the gunslinger gulps his drink, slams the glass, draws, fires and shoots off the piano player's other cuff link. BLAM! Again, the piano player doesn't miss a beat and continues playing. And still, not even a flinch from the old saloon girl. "GEEZ, what a dead place!" says the gunslinger, "Isn't there something you can tell me to do for a little excitement?". This time the bartender says, Well there IS one thing you could do." "Fer Cryin' Out Loud, What?" Says the gunslinger. "Well, you could go out back where I got the old bacon grease barrel... Yeah, that'd be somethin'... Look here Mister, here's what you do: You go on out back there, take out that there Colt 45 of yours, and dip it way down deep in the bacon grease... All the way up to your elbow. That's what you ought to do... Yep." "What?" says the gunslinger, "Where's the fun in THAT?" "Oh, it ain't gonna be FUN..." says the bartender. "I just figured it might help a little. Cuz, when Wyatt Earp gets done playin' Happy Birthday on the piano for his Mom, he's gonna shove that gun up yer @$$!" Joke #2 - The Last Joke Dad Told, from his Hospice Deathbed at Knute Nelson Nursing Home. At a prestigious medical college there was an anatomy professor who was well known for his colorful style of lecturing. The male students all loved him. But the female students complained about him regularly. As the course of study progressed into reproductive organs, the female students threatened to stage a walk-out if he got too crude. Well, the day of the big lecture finally arrived and the professor began with a flourish by unfurling a ten foot diagram of a penis. "This is a big Penis," he said. "Of course, this diagram is way bigger than real life. But, there are some really big ones out there. The world record is held by a male stripper in Mexico City... His penis is 15" long and 3" thick." That did it... All of the female students began to storm their way out of there. It was pandemonium! Then, as they were rushing out the door, the professor called after them, "The train for Mexico City leaves at 12:00 o'clock!" |