My father passed away on July 14th, 2011. I have included a link to his death notice and an obituary that ran in the Boston Globe so you can learn more about him if you are interested. What follows below is the eulogy I shared at his memorial service on July 26th in Boston. My radio silence on this blog has been in large part due to the emotional journey I have been on since my last post. My hope in sharing all of this is that it will not only serve as a tribute to him, but will also inspire others the way he did and continues to inspire me.

So here I am, George WW Brewster IV, son of George WW Brewster III with the goal of trying to adequately eulogize him after 42 years of watching, learning and loving him. No small feat given what we all know and remember of him. To top it off Pastor Joel, the “Rolling Rev” as my father called him, says I should keep it to 3 minutes. Given the family trait of the gift for gab, storytelling, laughter and pushing the boundaries a bit, this is a tall task. But just like my father, I’m up for a good challenge today.

First off, I thought I would provide a little background on how I went about this:

  1. I’m in the business of acronyms, which upon reflection for this moment is easy for me to understand given my early introduction to some of my father’s favorites like A.M.F, N.F.W and B.F.I that came out regularly on our family trips to
    Maine.
  2. I’m here to talk about the man who had alphabet and numerical soup for initials, which I also share, so I thought why not throw a few more in there for fun.
  3. I’m going to keep it really simple with the goal of trying to keep it together.
  4. So with that as background, here is the acronym I came up with to try to capture the best of this incredible man we are celebrating today, who I had the privilege of having as my father, my best man and my best friend.
  5. Are you ready? — ABC 123. Yes, a nod does goes to the Jackson Five, but this version is better because it’s about the man they called World War Three.

Letter A:

  1. Not just one A but two actually, a twofer as Dad would say
  2. Attitude = Not Tude in the negative or egotistical sense, but a consistently reliable positive force. A glass half full, if not over flowing optimist. “That’s Great!!, Beautiful or Wow” were always his response regardless the situation.
  3. Acceptance = 15 years of fighting cancer and never a rant, just a resolve to accept the ups and downs along the way and
    focus on what was next rather than why this was happening  to him.
  4. Put these two A’s together the way he did and you have the first ingredient of what made him so special. It’s also no accident that AA is in the mix after his 27 years of working the program one day at a time.

Letter B:

  1. Get ready for a rapid onslaught of 20 because he was the king of the B’s. Yes that’s right I did say 20, but don’t worry Joel I’ll be quick.
  2. Born in Boston, A child in Brookline, Fathering in the Burbs and Bacheloring in the Back Bay
  3. After BU it was onto Muni Bonds with the Bank of Boston and Bear Stearns
  4. For me there were the memorable moments watching the Beanpot, the Bruins and the BoSox together.
  5. Bottom line: George Brewster, was and is the best of Boston as far as I’m concerned.

Letter C:

  1. This one is a trifecta, because I’m on a roll and channeling the man for whom one was never enough.
  2. Competitive = The oldest of three with two brothers right on his heels, he was fiercely driven to win and get there first.
    A combination that always made the drives, the walks, the games together intense with the requisite F-bombs along the way for good measure. His competitive drive also served him very well for 43 years as bond trader where it was always about the bid and the ask, beating the odds and securing the deal. Whether on the field, working the phone or at the wheel, he was always the fiery Red Head going fast and doing it in style.
  3. Courageous = During his prolonged medical journey that started with working to regain his memory after the infamous
    roller blade accident twenty years ago, which was followed by 15 plus surgeries and countless treatments to fight melanoma he always ran toward the metaphorical roar rather than from it. He was also willing to trust me enough to show up for two pretty risky requests I made of him, a family of origin workshop and a men’s retreat, in order for us to learn and grow together, for which I am eternally grateful.
  4. Caring = My father was incredibly loving, generous and loyal. He had a huge and powerful heart. As a result he touched so
    many people in so many ways, which is evident here today. His care of and for others is what leads me to the 1, 2, 3’s of the acronym.

My dad was a coach, a mentor and an oracle of wisdom to me and many of us here. The 1, 2, 3’s come from the critical points he used with me many times when I was bouncing around personally or professionally over the years. The sources of these three points come from friends of my father that I can’t remember now, but you know who you are and thanks go to you for passing them on to him. However, it is his voice that I hear and his way of stringing them together that was able to turn even the grey skies of Seattle blue in an instant. My bet is that some of you here today have heard them before at just the right moment and seen the world differently as a result. If you haven’t, then let this be your GB3 indoctrination.

  1. “The first thing to do is to get out of your chair.” The physical manifestation and cure for the emotional metaphor of being stuck. Something my father lived by and did throughout his life right up to the very end.  Move the body to shift the mind. When in doubt, get up and get going. Special thanks to Jake Kennedy for always being there to help dad keep moving all those years regardless of the ailment, we are all grateful because of how important moving, literally and figuratively, was to him.
  2. “Are they good?” Ask yourself this simple question about the person you are with or the company you work for. If the answer is yes, which is such a great set up because the answer is almost always yes otherwise why the F___ would you be with them if they weren’t, then trust what they see in you that you can’t see in yourself.  If they are asking you to do something it is because they think you can even if you don’t. If they are good, which you just said they were, then they’re probably right and you are wrong.
  3. “Look at the track record.” This is where he would string together 5 or 6 things that he had noticed in me that I may have missed, forgotten or seen negatively rather than through his rose-colored glasses. He did not miss very much, especially when it allowed him to compliment someone else.

My father put these three thoughts together better than a Marvelous Marvin Hagler, in his prime, left, right, left combo. In the space of under 5 minutes, 3,000 thousand miles away and over the phone I was back in the game and ready to take on the world wondering what the hell had just happened. Simple yet absolutely brilliant because the 1,2,3’s came from him and served him so well in his lifetime.

So there you have it fellow fans of GWWBIII, or just G to his grandchildren. The ABC’s and 1, 2, 3’s that I judge are the acronymial
ingredients that made the man a legend to me and all of us.  My hope is that you will remember to use or share them when the time is right and that they serve you as well as they have and do me.

Dadzo, here is to you. May you run like a flying cheetah, hit them long and straight, and take pride in the legacy you have left that
continues on so strong here today. Love You Man, You will be missed – G4