Donald "Don" Forest Brewer

Donald Forest “Don” Brewer, of Groesbeck, completed his service on earth and went to be with the Father in Heaven, when he passed away at the VA hospital in Temple, on Monday, December 17, 2018.  Don was born May 24, 1930 to Chester Forest Brewer and Mary Somerville Brewer in Glendale, CA.   By the time Don had graduated from high school, his family had moved to Alaska and he was studying engineering at the University of Fairbanks.  His college plans were interrupted by the draft during the Korean War.  Don served in the United States Army from 1951 until 1953 and in the Army Reserves from 1953 through 1959 and was stationed in Alaska. Don met a lovely lady named Barbara Ann Sykes on a blind date.  She knew immediately he was the one she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.    His proposal was “when are you going to marry me?”   Seven months after meeting, on July 24, 1954, Don and Barbara were united in marriage in Anchorage, Alaska.    They “homesteaded” in Alaska, choosing a piece of land and building a house.   Don owned a gas station and as a hobby, raced midget cars, folding his 6’4” body into the tiny cars. They moved to California around 1954 and two of their children were born there, in the same hospital in Glendale where Don had been born.  However, they wanted to move  back to Alaska, again “homesteading” where they had to walk two miles off the road to their house.  The pleasures of Alaska ended when Barbara met up with a bear, and so they left, and the results were that the family then moved twenty times in twenty years, with Don’s work.  Don worked in the food service industry, and his duties included choosing the best location for a new establishment, determining the market feasibility, overseeing the construction, hiring the employees and training them.   When the business was in operation he would then move on – with his family – to the next location in various states and even to Singapore, China.   Some of the facilities were for Kentucky Fried Chicken, K-Bobs, What-a-Burger, Roy Rogers, and Hartz Crispy Chicken.  In Phoenix, he ran a “rehabilitation store” where they trained released convicts in job skills.  Don often paid for the employees’ shoes, glasses, and dental work for those in need, out of his own pocket, without telling anyone about his gifts.  In Phoenix, he and Barbara enjoyed buying turquoise and he designed some Indian style jewelry for he and Barbara. When Don retired, he and Barbara moved to Lake Limestone and were faithful members of the Church of Christ in Groesbeck.   Don used his cooking skills many times in providing meals and dishes at church events, from pancakes to casseroles.     In fact, at family gatherings at home, the kitchen was considered Don’s Domain, and others beware.    Don acquired a new hobby of carving and finishing walking sticks, canes and pencil holders from local wood, which were each unique with carved “faces” up and down the sticks.  He presented his friends and church members who had knee surgery or other needs for a cane with one of his special gifts, and also donated many pieces to various fund raisers.   His business card called these “ugly men walking sticks” but they were actually a “memory stick” of Don’s kindness and service to others. In addition to his kindness, Don was best known for his sense of humor, practical jokes, and passing out “tiny treasures.”  These “tiny treasures” were marbles or small stones he had picked up, and gave to his grandchildren and great grandchildren and other children.   They have been greatly treasured by the family who think of Don smiling at them when they see their treasures.   And he did have a wonderful smile to share with everyone.   Don’s truest servant’s heart was seen by all who knew the couple in his loving dedication and care for Barbara after she lost her sight a few years ago.   He will forever be remembered by the church members who saw Don pushing Barbara in her transporter to and from the church building for worship services, after he had assisted her in dressing with her hair and make-up looking perfect.  Don once paid his wife the compliment that he never realized all the many little and big things she did in running the household.  Don was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Norman Brewer. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Brewer of Groesbeck; daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Ted Miller of Edgewood, New Mexico; son, Gary Brewer of Kansas City, KA; and daughter and son-in-law, Pamela and David Bretherton of Humble, TX; seven grandchildren; thirteen great grandchildren; brother, Edward Brewer and his wife Karen of Washington; sister, Beverly Ford and husband Frank of Montana; and adopted siblings, Dennis Brewer and Vicky Brewer.