Melvin “Mel” Brown’s family says he was a no-nonsense guy, confident in his convictions.
“My dad was unquestionably pragmatic. Everything was clearly black and white with him,” daughter Melissa “Missy” Knight of Crystal City wrote for his eulogy. “Be it politics or how to hold a paintbrush the right way, there was always a clear and correct answer.”
Mr. Brown died May 10 at age 74. He was a longtime self-employed plumber and a member of Our Lady Catholic Church in Festus.
Born in Bonne Terre, he lived briefly in Festus as a toddler.
“He lived on Huber Street; I lived on Valentine,” his wife, Lynn, said. “Our backyards touched. Then they moved to Herculaneum and he went to school there.”
He began working for F. W. Harter Plumbing in Crystal City as a teenager.
“He would drive a big truck up to the city, and he wasn’t exactly licensed because he wasn’t even 16 yet,” Linda said.
He also worked as a caddy at the Joachim Golf Club to earn extra money and earned his Eagle Scout rank.
He attended Jefferson College, but when his number came up in the draft, he enlisted in the Navy.
“He was stationed all over Europe, but mostly in Italy,” Lynn said. “He got some beautiful pictures of the countryside and all the sights.”
Once back home, Mr. Brown worked briefly as an insurance investigator and got reacquainted with his former neighbor.
“I had a beauty shop, Town House Coiffures, on Mill Street,” Lynn said. “A friend introduced us.”
They were married in 1970, and Mr. Brown went to work for Gene Harter Plumbing.
“It wasn’t long before Mel decided he wanted to be a licensed plumber,” his wife said. “He worked and went to plumbing school in the evenings.”
The couple opened Brown Plumbing in 1979, operating out of their home, with Lynn as the bookkeeper. They raised three children: sons Bob and Ben and daughter Missy, who wrote about what an involved father Mr. Brown was.
“He taught me how to drive a backhoe, braze copper, and DIY just about everything,” she said. “He spent countless hours catching my wild pitches, trying to make me understand math and watching PBS cooking shows with me. I loved when just he and I would go into town and we would stop at the KC Hall for a ‘beer’ – root beer and barbecue chips for me, Busch for him.”
Mr. Brown put in a lot of hours.
“Mel’s work ethic was, you are on the job at 8 a.m., no matter what, and you’d better be ready to work,” his wife said. “And he worked a lot. He started doing work at the hospital the day after we started the business, and he did plumbing for River Cement, both the Crystal City and Festus police stations, several nursing homes. Our kids went to Our Lady; he did plumbing there and never billed them a dime.”
He also did a great deal of residential plumbing work.
“He had a big key ring with customers’ keys on it,” Lynn said. “He’d go and let himself in while they were at work or wherever and do the job. He knew which key went to every house.”
For a time, the Browns had a backhoe and did sewer work, too.
“I was always nervous, and I finally said I don’t want you doing that anymore,” Lynn said. “We sold it. In later years, he went to repair work only. He started slowing down; when you turn 60 you can’t move as fast as you used to.”
Mr. Brown retired from full-time plumbing in 2012.
“He did small jobs for the next four years before fully getting out,” said son Ben.
“It was a good life for us,” Lynn said. “We didn’t get rich – you don’t get rich when you’re working for yourself – but there are other advantages. He had a good reputation; other plumbers would ask him for advice or help, ask him questions.”
Mr. Brown enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren.
“The older ones called us Nanny and Grandpa; then Missy’s two named me Mimi and him K-Paw,” Lynn said. “Mel would come home from work with his dirty plumbing hat on, and Grady would climb in his lap to play with his Thomas the Tank Engine toys.
“Mel would take Sophia out and swing her in the swing for hours, and she’d hold up her little finger for ‘just one more’ turn. It was so sweet.”
Mr. Brown had knee-replacement surgery in 2015 and contracted a staph infection.
“He went on disability, and we dissolved the business,” Lynn said.
They sold their house and moved into one five doors away that their son left when he moved to Chicago.
Shortly after that, Mr. Brown was diagnosed with Stage 3 lung cancer and an aneurism.
The downhill slide continued and on May 9, he was admitted to the hospital, where he died peacefully late the next day.
“I held his hand and I swear to God, he held mine,” Lynn said. “He knew what I was saying. Ben was on the way home from Chicago, and Mel didn’t go until Ben got there.”
Lynn said her husband will be remembered for his honesty, integrity and steadfast love of family
“I never wanted for anything. He was my rock. He lived for his family.”
“Life Story,” posted Saturdays on Leader Publications’ website, focuses on one individual’s impact on his or her community.
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