I attended the funeral of long time friend and next door neighbor Don Brown today. "Brownie" was a Newark firefighter for 33 years. Two stories about Don. One was when I returned home in a terrible winter snow squall, glanced at our neighbor's empty house and saw the orange glow of fire in their bedroom window. I immediately pulled in the drive, told Pat to call 911 and ran next door to get Don. He brought a fire extinguisher from his house and together we busted in the neighbor's front door. I'll never forget the sensation of the heat and smoke driving both of us back out the front door. He tried to crawl back in under the smoke and heat with limited success. When the township fire department came, Don grabbed a "Scott Pack" (breathing apparatus) and proceeded with the arriving fireman to dowse the flame and save the house. I gained a real appreciation for the danger firefighters are under in their jobs.
Another memorable experiecnce with Don occured during the blizzard of 1978. Our families were without heat for over 80 hours. He brought his wife and kids next door to our house since we had a wood burning fireplace. Although it was "cozy" with all 8 of us in our house it provided time to play games, interact and get to really know each other. Don was a wonderful Father and dear friend.
1 comment:
Willie, forgot to comment on this.
I remember the blizzard time too, amazing.
He was a good man that Mr. Brown. I hope that all
the neighborhood kids had time to go to the funerel.
How did he die? Do you have Tammy and or Sherry's
email addresses?
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