Belk Funeral Home pays tribute to beloved retiree

(left to right) Jaby Belk, Sidney Belk, Eaddy Brown, Sydney Belk, Tiffany Belk, Curry Belk, Will Peavy, Hamer Parnell. Photo by Samantha Lyles

By Samantha Lyles, Staff Writer, slyles@newsandpress.net

Belk Funeral Home of Darlington has always been a family business, but the Belk clan recently had to bid farewell to a longtime employee who is just as beloved and valued as any blood relative.

Robert Eaddy Brown, affectionately known as “E” to the younger Belk kids, has retired after more than 50 years with the business. Known in the community for his winning smile, gentle manner, mechanical know-how, and tireless work ethic, Brown’s daily presence will be greatly missed by colleagues and friends.
“He’s really part of our family more than he is an employee,” says Sidney Belk. “He is compassionate, calm, and very unselfish. Everything with Eaddy is about helping people… and he’ll do anything you ask him, except painting.”

“You can keep that paintbrush,” Brown agrees, laughing.

At age 16, when Brown first came to work at Belk, he would walk the seven miles into town from his home in the country because he didn’t yet have his driver’s license.

“When I left that farm and got here, I thought I was uptown,” says Brown. “I’ve felt like a member of the family. After Sidney’s daddy (Belk Funeral Home founder Marion Belk) took me under his wing, he was a father for me, because I didn’t have a father. I just took everything here as part of mine – the people, the work, everything.”

Over time, Brown was entrusted with all of Belk’s cemetery work, vehicle maintenance, landscaping of the business grounds, and many various and sundry tasks, as is the lot of someone who can figure out how to do nearly anything. Brown is also renowned for his steel-trap memory, which includes so much information about local families that he could accurately predict which church and graveyard they would use even before formal arrangements were made.

“Down through the years, it just came naturally because I had to remember all the things that needed to be done,” says Brown. “I’d hear a name and almost could say the spot where they would be buried.”

While his professional skills made many aspects of the business run smoothly, Brown also helped the family run a little smoother, too. He has been a loyal friend to Sidney, and a father figure to Sidney’s two sons, Curry and Jaby.

“Eaddy has a loving and calm spirit about him, and that played a big part for Jaby and me when we were coming up,” says Curry. “He would see us upset about something and say, ‘Oh, there’s no need to get upset about that.’ Jaby and I are pretty calm, and I think a lot of that comes from life lessons that we picked up from Eaddy.”

“The ice cream cones would calm them,” Brown jokes.

That reliable steadiness proved especially helpful after the sudden death of Marion Belk in 1973, when Sidney was still in college. At that point, Brown had worked with the Belk family for about ten years, and he shared their sadness at the loss of the family patriarch, but he also expressed confidence that Sidney could keep the business going and honor his father’s legacy.

“After the death of my father, we struggled here in the funeral business. It was a difficult time, but Eaddy was a great encourager to me. I would get down and he would tell me to just keep on, that it would be okay,” recalls Sidney.

“He’s taught us all to push on and persist,” adds Jaby. “He’s just got that drive.”

Though he’s been training Jaby to take over most of his previous professional duties, Brown’s mechanical adeptness with everything from engines to bike chains is already being missed by the family.

“Every once in a while, I’ll try to fix something and when it doesn’t work out, my grandchildren just say ‘Call E.,’” Sidney says with a laugh.

“E is the only one who can fix my bicycle,” adds Curry and Tiffany Belk’s daughter Sydney, who practically tackles Brown with a hug the instant he walks through the door.

In his golden years, Brown – now 72 – says he plans to continue on as a custodian at Darlington Presbyterian Church and devote more time to his favorite hobby: restoring classic cars, like his 1966 Thunderbird and 1964 Ford Galaxy.

And whenever Brown might feel the need to spend time with people who love and value him, he only has to stop by Belk Funeral Home, where he will always be greeted like a member of the family.

Author: Stephan Drew

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