Weldon post office to be named for Dock Brown

John F. Moeur/Managing Editor

WELDON - Dock Brown is a fighter. He has challenged the odds all his life and the results have been extraordinary for himself, his family and his community.

His latest battle is with leukemia, and he seems to have it in retreat.

You can hear the pleasure and determination in his voice as he describes the last two doctor's visits and the normal blood readings.

With no chemotherapy in the past five weeks and his appetite returning, Dock is adamant, “I am looking forward to a complete recovery Š and getting back to helping people.”

While his recent illness may have slowed Dock's ability to get around in the community a bit, it was but a slight bump in his path to improving life for the people of Weldon and Eastern North Carolina.

It is for that dedication that he will be honored in 2008 with the formal naming of the U.S. Post Office in Weldon in his honor.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield guided a bill through the House of Representatives earlier this week designating the facility at 401 Washington Ave., in Weldon as the “Dock M. Brown Post Office Building.”

The measure now goes to the Senate, where passage is expected, and then on to President George W. Bush for his signature.

Brown remembers when Butterfield first told him of the plan to name the post office in his honor. “I was just elated Š I couldn't sleep that night Š It was just unbelievable.”

Thursday, Brown and the congressman toured the Weldon building. “There needs to be a lot of work done on it,” Brown said.

Included on the list of repairs are painting the inside, resurfacing the parking lot and some other changes. Brown, who serves on the Weldon Town Board, said the community is formally requesting the federal government make the improvements. Once the renovation is finished and the president signs the bill renaming the facility, a dedication ceremony will be planned.

Meanwhile, Brown is focused on the community's needs and expressing his gratitude for all involved in the honor.

“First and foremost, I want to thank Congressman Butterfield. It is a real honor Š In my wildest dreams, I never expected this kind of honor.

“I thank God for the kind of life I have lived Š All I wanted to do is make a difference and, perhaps, to serve as an inspiration to others born poor as I was. I had great parents and they struggled to make ends meet,” Brown remembers.

His father, Nelson, was a World War I medically discharged veteran who had very little education but put a great deal of stock in learning. “My father wouldn't let me stay out of school and work Š He said education was a key to success.”

His mother, Velvie, was a firm believer in education and her children. She worked at the Roanoke Rapids Hospital for 40 years, starting as a maid and then earning her practical nursing certification and spending nearly three decades in the maternity ward caring for babies.

Brown remembers, “My mother washed clothes for white families in Roanoke Rapids to send us off to school Š When I graduated from college, she told me ‘Never forget where you came from.' Since that time, I have thought about that and I have worked not to let her down. I have done everything in my power to make this a better place to live.”

He pauses and then adds, “I thank God and all who have supported me and for the recognition of my work in this stage of my life.”

Brown, who will turn 79 on Jan. 30, graduated from J.A. Chaloner High School and entered Shaw University. The Korean War interrupted his college education.

After being honorably discharged, Brown returned to graduate from Shaw and went on to earn a master's in sociology and school administration from North Carolina Central University.

He taught history at Weldon and Eastman high schools for 24 years and was principal of Pittman High for a decade.

In a press release, Butterfield pointed out that Brown was an educator during the difficult days of segregation and that the Valley native dedicated himself to ensuring African-Americans had the opportunities they needed to learn and better themselves and the community.

Butterfield, who has known Brown for four decades, attests to his influence.

“His positive impacts on the lives of the youth in Halifax County cannot begin to be measured Š Dock Brown touched so many young lives and it was his encouragement that has served as the catalyst and foundation that propelled many of those youth to grow into well-established, productive, progressive citizens.”

To say Brown has been a community leader and public servant would be an understatement.

The lists of offices and roles he has played seems endless - the Halifax County Board of Health, Halifax County Board of Commissioners, North Carolina House of Representatives, Weldon Town Board, Board of Trustees of Elizabeth City State University and the Governor's Commission to Evaluate Superior Court Judges.

He was awarded the state's highest civilian honor - the Order of the Long Leaf Pine - by then-Gov. James B. Hunt Jr.

But when you talk with Brown, you realize of all his accomplishments perhaps the one closest to his heart is his family. He has been married to Helen Brooks for 54 ears.

They have two children - Dock Brown Jr. and Ivy Brown Singlton. Ivy is married to Lt. Col. Terance Singleton, who serves in the U.S. Army.