Obituary of C. Joseph Brown

C. Joseph Brown, father of 9 and former Burlington Town Moderator passed away after a long illness at his home in Port St. Lucie, Florida on Monday morning, October 23, 2006. He was 76 years old. Joe was born and raised in Lansing Michigan. He was the son of the late Clair and Marie Brown. He was a graduate of Lansing High School and Northeastern University. He served in the Navy during the Korean War. He worked as an engineer for Hewlett Packard for 37 years and was a member of their Quarter Century Club. Joe and his wife settled in Burlington in 1958 where they raised their eight children and became an active part of the community of Burlington. He was a Town Meeting Member for many years in addition to being the Town Moderator. Joe was a sports fan and followed all the Boston sports teams especially the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics. He enjoyed fishing, golfing, and gardening. Joe and his wife Clare moved to Florida in 1996. Joe’s family was very important to him and he treasured the many special times he spent with his wife, his children, and grandchildren. Joe is the beloved husband of Clare G. (Doherty). He is the loving father of Cynthia LoPreste of Billerica, Karen Desmond of Eagan, MN, Kathleen Hughes of Westford, Andrea Lauzon of Westford, Theresa LaMarca of Billerica, Charlene Stankiewicz of Brunswick, OH, Kevin Brown of Chelmsford, Christine Brooks of Groton and the late Denise Brown. He is the brother of Alice Crawley of Lansing, MI. He is also survived by 14 grandchildren. Funeral from the Edward V. Sullivan Funeral Home, 43 Winn Street, BURLINGTON (exit 34 off Rt. 128, Woburn side) on Monday, October 30 at 9 a.m. Followed by a Mass of Christian Burial in St. Margaret’s Church, 111 Winn St., Burlington at 10 a.m. Visiting hours Sunday 3-7 p.m. Interment in Pine Haven Cemetery, Burlington. Memorials in Joe’s name may be made to Treasure Coast Hospice Building Fund, 11201 South East Indian St., Stuart, FL 34997. Good Morning. I like to thank you all for coming today. It means a lot to the family and me. My father was a good man. He was a good and loving husband, father, and friend. He was a good and faithful catholic, who used the teachings of the church as the foundation for raising his family. He emphasized treating others the way that you want to be treated and instilled morality and accountability in each of us. < br> It’s because of this belief that it is comforting for me to know that he’s up in Heaven right now…Hopefully fishing for Walter, the monster fish that eluded him up in NH. I’d like to keep this upbeat, as there has been too much sadness lately. It’s time like these that it’s important to remember the person and the good times, and certainly in my fathers case the good stories and of course the good saying. Lord knows that John and I gave him plenty of material to work with. I remember last Christmas John and I were at their place in Florida riding around on the kids scooters – When we got back to the house where here“Jeez – why don’t you guys let the kids ride them. Who are the adults and who are the kids”? Jeepers, or jeez as it morphed to…whether he knew it or not, was one of my fathers favorite saying. I’m sure many of you have heard him use it. Like when the Red Sox left runner on base. “Jeez you have to score some runs” or when the Celtics were playing sloppy defense “Jeez, you can’t give up easy lay-ups”. And I’m sure right now he’s looking down saying “Jeez, what is he going to talk about now. Didn’t I ask Clare not to let him do the eulogy? My father as many of you all know, was a dedicated family man. Everything he did, he did with the family’s best interest in mind…even when we didn’t have his best interest in mind. Like the day when he started digging the hole in the back yard for the pool. My sisters, who were fairly young at the time, sat out back porch with bathing suits and bubbles on. Talk about pressure. But he handled it well. The pool was a big success. How he ever put up with the endless Marco Polo games though, I’ll never understand. Marco…Polo…and on and on it went. I guess it must have been the garden that was his solace from those game. His garden was huge. I can remember dreading having to help work in it – weeding and watering and everything else. I guess it wasn’t too bad because I have one of my own now and have started getting my children involved. His love for gardening will continue to be passed on to new generations. It’s funny because anytime one of us went to Florida in the summer or early fall he would always have me send down some tomatoes. His biggest disappointment being in Florida was that in the summer, he couldn’t have his Friday night dinner of corn, tomatoes, and cukes. “Geez, the tomatoes down here are terrible.” While his gardening was a strength is dancing was not. Who else could have the confidence of Fred Astaire but the moves of a young Jerry Lewis? I wish I could describe it further but I’m sure a lot of you here have seen him dancing and know exactly what I’m talking about. I know where 2-year old daughter Grace got her dance moves. My father was a different breed. He was very smart, very thorough and so meticulous. None of us will ever forget how he cracked the whip on us every year when we had to install the dock at the lake house. Clean the aluminum with steel wool, grease the bolts, level the feet and on and on it went over the course of the day. Even though he couldn’t be there the last few years, his spirit was alive and well on those dock installation days. Whether it was John wearing Joe’s captain’s hat or someone else muttering, “Jeez who leveled this section or Jeez who cleaned these feet”? It’s these traits and saying that we remember fondly and will keep his spirit alive and well for a long time. I’d like to close by remembering something my father said to me a long time ago. He told me that it was too bad that my generation didn’t have hero’s. His generation had war hero’s like Eisenhower, McArthur, Churchill, while my generation made hero’s out of selfish overpaid celebrities and athletes. He was wrong. I didn’t have to look any further than him for my hero. He was a guy who didn’t come from much, who with the help of my mother, put himself through college, got a good job and raised a family of eight on a modest salary. He never asked for much but gave a lot. That to me is a hero. I’m proud of the fact that he and my mother spent and invested their money wisely. How they saved well enough that when it was time to retire they were able to spend summers in NH and winters in Florida. I guess I’d like to finish with one more of my fathers favorite sayings. He used to joke after I’d make a silly comment, that when the good lord was handing out brains, I was the first one in line…that I had to hold the door for everyone else. Well, I hope when my time comes, I get to hold the door and walk into heaven right behind him.