He was an average man, but not to us.....

His name was Gary Lynn Brown. He was born in Detroit, MI on February 25th, 1942. He was a very cute, chubby baby, who was well loved by his older sister Pat and his mother. Later, he was lovingly known as "Butch". At age 11 he lost his father, Evert. How this must have affected him so. He had fond memories of his gentle and well loved father.
Most of his younger years were spent with an obsession with cars, maybe because he grew up in the Motor City. Later his family moved to Wyandotte, MI. He met a girl in high school named Mary. They married and Gary had his first son, Keenan at age 18. One and a half years later Kelleigh arrived, with brown eyes so beautiful that she won a baby contest in the local newspaper. Then came Kevin, another year and a half later. At the age of 21, this average hard working man had 3 very small children. Then one day at the age of 23, with his children at the ages of 4, 3, and 2. His wife Mary decided to leave and she disappeared. Not even her mother knew where she went. Until one day a friend called Gary and told him to turn on the T.V. Looking at the television, Gary saw his wife on a game show called "Let's Make a Deal." She decided to abandon her children and move to California to start a new life. So, at the age of 23, Gary became a single parent. His life and theirs changed forever. Many friends and family teamed up and supported this average young man, now a single young father and he was so grateful. You see, Gary was like a big Teddy Bear. Some would call him "Mr. Smooth", not because he was a cahrmer, no, he did not like attention, but because he was kind and appeared very calm and very even. Gary was sweet, he liked to visit and he enjoyed hearing others' stories. For those reasons, for his qualities, four years later at the age of 27, his ex-wife's mother decided to set him up on a date with a beautiful young women named Carol Ann Shankus. They fell in love and she fell in love with the whole little "Brown" package. They married on December 19, 1969 and moved to Southgate, MI. One year later they had a baby, and sticking with the "K" theme, named her Kristen. Then one and half years later, Kraig arrived.
Gary continued to be a hard working, loving father. Moving his family a few more times. He worked at Jeep for a while as a foreman. Then he settled into the average kind of truck driver job. Working long hours, waking at 3am, coming home at 8pm, kind of just collapsing after a hard days work to support his average family. The lived in a fairly average home, a 2 story, on a street with many other similarly average homes.
He was funny, but in the "dry sense of humor" kind of way. People loved him. Once, walking in the door, I found my dad talking on the phone. The conversation lasted at least 20 minutes. He was joking and chuckling and telling stories. He hung up the phone and when asked who he was talking to, he replied "some AT&T telemarketer". One would have thought they were old friends the way they were talking.
Gary attended every baseball game and every football game that his oldest boys were in. Every hockey game and every Ice skating event that his younger two children were in, there he was watching. He worked hard so they could have fun and so he could enjoy watching them have fun.

Then one cold, icy, night in November in 1984 tragedy struck this average man's family. His precious 22 year old daughter, Kelleigh, was killed in a car accident with her unborn baby by a drunk driver. He was crushed, but he was solid. He stood strong for his family, they were held together by his calm presence. He was quiet and steady. He mourned and he ached. The weight of his family's grief rested on his shoulders and he did not falter.
In fact, he never faltered in his love and support for his family. He had the utmost confidence in his children and if you were to ask him he would tell you. He was not showy or pretentious. He was 'down to earth', real, modest and reserved. His "I love you" was delivered in the words "ok, my little buddy" and his kids knew it.
He was dedicated. He was loved and he loved well and he loved hard, but in his quiet way. His kids knew his door was open. His kids knew that he would listen. His kids knew that no matter what he was always going to love them.
Gary's life ended on September 7th, 2011.
To describe a life of an average man is difficult. It is hard. That is because to us..... he was no average man.
He was no average father.
He was Gary "Butch" Brown, our dad.......and he lived well.