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Passing unanimously in the House, the resolution to honor Brown by naming the Weldon Post Office after him was scheduled to go to the Senate but Michigan Sen. Carl Levin honored the tradition of not naming federal buildings for the living, U.S. Congressman G.K. Butterfield told a large audience.
“They gave us the bad news,” Butterfield said. “Senator Levin never votes for a living person.” Butterfield went to Levin’s brother. “I told him it not only means a lot to me, but also a lot to my district. We got the call Senator Levin would simply not show up on the day of the vote. One day and one year later we are here.”
Sen. Levin’s absence made the day possible as Brown, sitting beside his wife Helen, was the center of attention at the ceremony in his honor yesterday.
“This is the greatest day of my life,” Brown, a Weldon town commissioner and retired educator, told the audience. “I’ve got so many people to say ‘thank you’ to.”
Relatives from around the country came to the celebration, Brown said, as well as members of his high school class. “I want to personally hug every one of you,” he said. “I haven’t slept in two nights. I’ve been wide awake thinking about this day. It’s the greatest day of my life.”
He said a friend told him he was the only living person in the world to have a post office named for him.
Brown thanked his wife for 56 years of support. “I’m just so happy,” he said. “I wouldn’t be here today, if it wasn’t for her.”
After the ceremony long lines of friends and well-wishers came up to shake Brown’s hand or hug him.
“It’s a privilege to know him,” Halifax Community College President Ervin Griffin told the audience. “I’ve depended on his insight and have been blessed by associating with him over the years.”
Weldon Mayor Johnny Draper knew Brown long before they got into politics. “He has tirelessly served Weldon, Halifax County and the great state of North Carolina,” the mayor said.
Draper called Monday a historic day. “Dock Brown has been such an influential person to so many in this town, county and state.”
Former U.S. Congresswoman Eva Clayton said, “So many of you recognize this was well-deserving. This will be a symbol recognizing our friend, great servant of the people, somone who is engaged in life.”
Evelyn Dawson, filling in for state Rep. Angela Bryant, read a resolution honoring Brown.
Butterfield said he has known Brown most of his life, knowing him as a friend, community leader and church goer. “I’m proud to be part of this legislation to name the post office after him.”
There was another story behind the story of the post office naming, Butterfield said.
The post office was in “deplorable condition,” Butterfield explained. “I went to the post master general and asked that the post office be improved.”
Butterfield received a form letter. Responding to that he said, “I told them if they didn’t do something for them, I would criticize the post master general on the floor.”
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