Brown to be honored for choir, organ work

For more than six decades, Robert Brown has provided organ music for services at Holton’s First United Methodist Church, and for more than half a century, Brown has directed the church’s chancel choir.

Now, because of “health and stress,” Brown has decided to step down from both posts.

“I’ve been a busy boy,” the 86-year-old Brown said about his upcoming retirement from his musical jobs at the church. “It’s bittersweet to lose my choir. They’re my family.”

The public is invited to a special reception in honor of Brown, scheduled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 2, at the church’s fellowship hall. The church is located at 1401 W. Fourth St. in Holton.

Overall, Brown — a member of Holton High School’s Class of 1948 and a retired Holton High School music teacher — has played the organ in churches for more than 65 years. He started at the age of 15 as the church’s organist, he said.

“They needed an organist,” Brown said. “So I played for four years.”

During his first four years as the church organist, the church had an old, hand-pumped organ.

“It had a generator, and you had to look and see if it was going,” Brown said. “Then, I went off to college, and they got a new organist and a new organ.”

Don Shelby took over for Brown for his four years in college, Brown noted, and the new organ that Shelby was given to play was a Moeller organ that was donated to the church and is still in operation today.

“I think it might have cost them $25,000 then,” Brown said of the old organ. “It’s worth more than $300,000 now.”

After four years at Bethany College and a short stint in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Brown resumed his job as the church’s organist — and found himself taking on the position of choir director after its previous director, Dorothy Nowlin, stepped down.

Brown said he’s not sure when he took on the job, but estimated it to be sometime in the late 1950s. Many of the choir members, he noted, are former students from his 24 years as a music teacher at HHS.

“They just stick by me all the time. They’re wonderful friends,” he said of the choir.

Over the years, Brown said he’s provided music for the church under the leadership of 18 pastors — noting with a laugh that he “trained most of them.” He’s also proud to have played along with pianist Dolores Wright for about 50 years.

“They just kind of turned it over to us,” Brown said of the church’s music. “We did our part, and they were thrilled. They didn’t have to worry about it.”

After stepping down from his job at HHS in 1991, Brown found himself leading the happy life of a retiree with his wife, Marilyn.

“I didn’t have any problems until my 85th birthday,” he said. “Four days after that, I had a fall.”

Brown has had “probably 10 or 12” falls since then, and he’s also had four vertebrae broken at different times.

“My back is now a problem that no one can fix,” he said.

It took him about a year to decide that it was time to retire from his musical positions at the church, he said, and while it was a tough decision to make, he added, “physically, it’s a good time to retire.”

However, he hasn’t trained anyone to play the church’s Moeller organ — mainly because he said there’s not much interest.

“They all want to play keyboards, or they want electronics or guitars. They don’t want to play the organ,” he said. “Times change… It’s a wonderful instrument, and I’m worried about it.”

Wright will take over for Brown following his retirement.

“She’s going to try to hold everything together,” he said.