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Celebration of a Lifetime
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Dad's Page
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'Honoring the Legacy, by Sharing the
Story'
Harvey H. Brown
1923-1986
Harvey was a well-respected
businessman, who owned two funeral homes. He served two terms as Burlington County Coroner, was an accomplished embalmer,
a meticulous funeral director and belonged to many civic groups, but was best known for his warm smile and ability to instill
the confidence that everything was going to be okay. He was clean from the bathrooms to the cars, his shoes were shined
and he swept his half of the street after the street cleaner came by, while wearing a black 3-piece suit. We got him a pair
of jeans one birthday. I don't recall him ever wearing them out of the house.
 A champion of underdogs, he helped
those who need. I can't recall all of the people who were given a place to sleep in our home, for a night, for a
month. As said in his eulogy, 'If someone needed to borrow two dollars and Harvey only had one, he would borrow a dollar
from someone else, so he could give you two.'
He was an attentive listener. People
sought him out to solve their problems. They knew if he didn't have the answer, he would find it for them. He cared.
Dad loved to companion families through their grief. They were the reason he worked so hard,
any day, any hour. I have never met a funeral director who loves his work to the depth of my father. I am honored to swim
in his shoes.
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Gone From Me You’re gone from me,
But only in the physical sense.
I
feel you around me still.
And once in a while, I glance, and I swear I’ve seen you again.
Some would think
me light in the head,
But I say not.
Rather, I am light in the heart,
Knowing that you haven’t left
me at all.
I feel your presence; you standing behind me.
Though silence consumes the atmosphere,
I hear
your words in my heart in full clarity.
I so enjoy spending time with you;
Recalling all of our times together;
Times we shared, times we cried,
And times we laughed so hard we would cry.
I learned so much, being with
you.
I don’t know if I ever thanked you for that.
Your imprint is on my very being;
Like dog-eared pages
in the book of my life,
Your creases of influence will never be gone from me.
I speak to you.
Sometimes
in my head;
Sometimes with my mouth.
Forgive me for waiting ‘til no one’s around.
They would think
me light in the head;
When instead, I am light in the heart.
-Ruthann Brown Disotell
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| The Harvey Browns - 1976 Candlelight Tour, Moorestown, NJ |
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'When someone dies, you don't get over it by forgetting:
you get over
it by remembering.'
-Leslie Marmon Silko
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