This weekend Bev’s family will gather together in Sacramento to celebrate her dad’s eighty-eighth birthday.  Unfortunately, I will be in Post Falls, ID at a Region Board Meeting and will not be able to go.

Dave Brown is a terrific guy.  He’s quiet, and in a crowd you might not take notice of him.  You’d be missing out.

Dave’s dad died when he was just a kid, and so his mom raised him, his brothers and one sister as a single mom in a little town called Orland, CA.  I give credit to Dave’s mom for my becoming a Christian.  She prayed for her children daily.  When they got old enough, and before they were even married she prayed for their spouses, then their children and ultimately their spouses (that’s where I fit in).

Dave joined the Air Force and served during World War II and Korea; he was the navigator on a weather reconnaissance B-25 Liberator.  Once, the plane he was in crashed soon after takeoff, only he and his pilot survived and were rescued.  We “kids” did not hear about this story until his brother told us.  After the Air Force, he went back to school and eventually earned his PhD.  He worked as a school teacher and administrator, eventually retiring as the Walnut Valley Schools Superintendent.

Dave is wicked smart.  He probably still considers himself a student and is always reading.  Even more importantly, he will take the time to explain what he knows in a way that you understand; he will let you ask questions and he will answer them.  He also has a great sense of humor.

All four of his kids are equally smart, but more importantly, Dave also made sure the faith in God that is so important to him was passed down to his kids.  It became important enough for them to pass to their kids.  Even now a new generation (his great- grandchildren) is being brought up to love the Lord.

That is the mark of a great man.

Bill