(Editor’s note: For those of us fortunate enough to have known former Reporter editor Mike Brown, this eulogy is so beautifully and perfectly written by his stepdaughter, Kayla Wieczorek Offield, that we wanted to share it with our readers as a special tribute to him. His obituary is on page 6A.)
Michael Edward Brown was a lot of things to a lot of people; and I mean far beyond the stereotypical, “loving son, dedicated father, devoted husband.”
Mike was the writer whose words brought stories to life in such a way that you felt as if you had stood atop those Colorado mountains with him, or stared up at the towering Redwood forest beside him, or watched whales breaching the Alaskan waters over his shoulder. He was a coach you could form a lifelong friendship with. And yes, he remembered when you took too long to steal second.
He was the man behind the camera capturing your child’s most memorable school sports moments.
He was always a happy hello and an extra 15 minutes spent chatting— no matter where he was or what he was in the middle of.
He was the walking yellow pages of our little community. Oh, your mother’s cousin had a sister who lived here briefly in the 80’s? Mike almost certainly knew her and could probably tell you a funny story about something she once said or did.
He was Trivial Pursuit, Jeopardy, and 15 different textbooks all rolled up into human form. Did you know that the Empire State Building has its own zip code? Or that the Statue of Liberty used to be a lighthouse? Yeah, me either, but Mike sure did!
He was the Cincinnati Reds’ biggest fan. Beyond his impressive collection of baseball hats and jerseys, he even owned seats from The Great American Ballpark and a uniform worn by a former manager.
He was the silly joke cracked in the middle of a serious conversation because he just couldn’t help himself.
Mike Brown was a light in this world and while it may seem dark in his absence, just know that when you look up at the stars at night and they’re twinkling a little brighter, that’s him, shining his love down on us all.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.