[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4208-S4209]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


           MEMORIALIZING JAMES LARRY BROWN OF PINE LEVEL, NC

  Mr. FAIRCLOTH. Mr. President, I rise to pay tribute to James Larry 
Brown who died suddenly 2 weeks ago at the young age of 40.
  Larry, as he was known by friends and family, was born and raised in 
[[Page S4209]]  Johnston County, NC, and spent his entire life in that 
tight-knit community. The hundreds of people who mourned his untimely 
death offer testimony to his character and the value of his life that 
ended without warning.
  As a young boy he sang in the choir at Carter's Chapel Baptist Church 
at Sunday services and for the sad occasion of a fellow parishioner's 
funeral. In 1970, when he was 16 years old, he sang at the funeral of 
Tammy Denise Woodruff, a 3-year-old child whose life was cut short. 
Each time he visited the grave site of that little girl who was buried 
next to his mother, Lyda Mae, he wept for her. Tammy's gravestone read 
``Picking Flowers in Heaven.'' Larry now rests next to her. The 
compassion he felt for a little girl he didn't even know is the finest 
example of the compassion Larry Brown felt toward all human beings.
  Larry wasn't a renowned scientist, an outspoken community activist, 
or a political leader. Larry was an ordinary man who lived and worked 
in his community for his entire life. He was the type of man that you 
would want as a brother, as a father, as a neighbor and as a friend. 
Whether he knew you for 20 years or for 20 minutes, he would be there 
offering a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand, or a $20 loan he never 
expected to be repaid.
  Some of his neighbors knew him as Vicki's father, Mr. Larry, the one 
who was always there working for the North Johnston High School Band 
Boosters to help them raise money and organize activities so the high 
school could continue developing young minds and souls through music. 
Other Pine Level residents knew him as Megan's daddy, a devoted 
softball fan who never missed a single game his daughter played. 
Parents and friends at the softball game always turned to Larry to find 
out the score at any given point in time. He always knew the answer 
because he kept the score in the soil beneath his lawn chair which he 
would put in place at the start of the day's first game and not remove 
until all the games were over. He was every child's playmate and every 
parent's confidant. Most everyone knew him as a friend.
  He married Colleen Kenney in 1975 after they met on a blind date when 
her family moved from Wisconsin to North Carolina. They would have 
celebrated their 20th wedding anniversary this October and both Larry 
and Colleen were looking forward to spending the rest of their lives 
together. Colleen, Pine Level's Girl Scout troop leader, relied on 
Larry to help her with the tremendous task of helping these girls grow 
and learn about life, responsibility and the importance of community 
service. It was a task he did well and with great dedication.
  Almost as much as Larry loved his family, his friends and his 
community, he loved the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. He was 
known throughout Pine Level, Smithfield and Selma as one of the most 
devoted Heels' fans in the State, never missing a game on television 
and invariably purchasing his cars and clothing in the Carolina Blue 
colors of the Tar Heels. He engaged in good hearted rivalry with his 
neighbors who were fans of the NC State Wolfpack, gaining a reputation 
as not only a practical joker but also as a good sport. Larry loved to 
laugh and loved to make others laugh--one of his extraordinary talents.
  While family and friends were his first priority, Larry gained a 
reputation as a sympathetic, understanding and effective manager at 
Data General and at Channel Master in Selma were he was working when he 
died. Those that he worked with in the present and well over a decade 
ago were struck by his death and came to pay him tribute. While working 
to support his family over the past 20 years, he was also able to 
complete his bachelors degree at the Atlantic Christian College. His 
graduation day, just a few years ago, was a proud day for his family. 
It was supposed to be just the beginning.
  James Larry Brown will be missed by all who knew and loved him. 
However, we are comforted in our loss by the knowledge that his was a 
life worthwhile, filled with compassion and kindness. We can only hope 
that his life and sudden death will make us better people.


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