Ernst Bray Memorial Service

 On March 20 2020 a memorial service for Ernst Bray was held at the First Baptist Church in Ridgeway Virginia. Several family members and friends spoke a few words of remembrance about Ernst, me included. Sadly, all those words of praise and love are lost to my memory, except for the eulogy that was written by his sister Mildred Bray Tate. 

Earnst Milton Bray

On March 11, 1934, my brother Ernest Milton Bray, was born to Ernest or (Jim as our daddy was called) and Bessie Martin Bray. He was the first child born to the couple and my mother was only 16 years old at the time. Since he is 6 years older than me, I do not remember anything about his early years.  One thing I do remember is our family was a poor sharecropper family barely getting by from year to year on a tobacco farm. A nice man owned the farm, however he expected to get his share or ¼ of all proceeds generated on his land. This included our vegetable garden of which he got first pickings as soon as the vegetables were mature enough to harvest. He owned several farms in the area, my dad rented them from time to time.  

The farm I remember most was the one we rented located in Ruffin North Carolina near the Berry Hill Community. The acreage of the farm straddled the North Carolina and Virginia state lines and also bordered the Dan River. 

By this time, I was 6 years old, and Ernest was twelve. Along with our parents, we were a family of seven with four girls and Ernest being the oldest and only boy. We had many setbacks during this time, with one or both of our parents being sick from time to time. I am not here dwelling on our hardships which were many, but to testify to the attitude and goodness of my brother. He was forced to drop out of school in the fifth grade because daddy wanted and needed him to work on the farm. Only have I found out later in life how he had to take on a man’s responsibility at such an early age. How he spent many hours walking behind a mule and plow on the river bottom land that was so fertile the grass growing in the corn was taller than the mule itself. 

A sharecroppers life

So many hours he spent walking behind the plow in the tobacco fields, along with cutting down trees for the winter supply of firewood for the house. Trees had to be dropped and cut to length then dragged to the barns by mules for heating the tobacco barns to cure the leaves of tobacco. All this along with so many other responsibilities was on his young shoulders.  I am sure some of you might be thinking he had to get some kind of compensation for his hard work. Nooo, not a cent did he receive because there was no money to be given. As I have stated we were dirt poor sharecroppers. 

I remember a family moved onto the adjoining plantation in the late 40’s maybe around 1948/49. They were a nice family with 4 boys aged from 6 to 18. This was a great thing for Ernest because he had someone to pal around with. The problem was these boys had grown up in town and had been exposed to the comforts and enjoyment of town life. They had BYCICLES! I am sure this was a great awakening for my brother who had never had a bicycle. Did he whine and beg for a bicycle, no he started scrounging around the countryside and produced enough parts and pieces to put together something that resembled a bike that was rideable. This is an example of the things he accepted at that time without any complaints or expectations of a better life. He always said, “no need to get upset, this is the way it is.”

Ernst and his sisters

 

 

Later, after moving from that farm to another owned by the same family, Ernest got his first public job at a concrete factory. He gained a lot of knowledge there, like learning to drive large trucks and to operate heavy machinery.

He was a good employee, never missed work and took pride in everything he did. He was also good to our family by using some of his pay to buy things for our home. I remember how excited we were when he bought a refrigerator for the family. This was my brother, very sharing and kind. 

Along about this time he managed to buy his first car. It was a Chevy at least 10 years old, which he learned to keep repaired. I am sure the knowledge he learned then helped through the years because he was a good mechanic and could repair almost any car problem. We were still living on the farm at this time and daddy was still trying to grow several acres of tobacco. Regardless that Ernest was working as much overtime as possible on his job, he still felt an obligation to help his dad with his tobacco crop, which he did without pay or complaint. 

Daddy bought property in the Irisburg community in the early 50’s and had our uncle build a house for the family. He also had our uncle build a small block building that was converted into a country store.  These were happy times for us, to have a new house and were not obligated to a landlord. 

I loved and admired my brother. I thought he was the greatest and besides, he had a cool car. He had bought a stylish black 56 Ford which he liked to drive fast and spin the tires. He had several guy friends that hung out at the store, and they liked to show off as well. I would pester him sometimes and beg him to take me riding. He would say he would if I washed his car. Happily, I would spend a good while cleaning his car, however, after I finished, he would say he had a date and could not take me. I would cry and he would laugh at me. 

Ernest did not like Elvis Presley. I loved Elvis. I bought all of Elvis records. One song “One night with you” Ernest hated. I knew this and I played it constantly when he was around just to see his reaction. My record player was designed so that you could set it to play a forty-five record over and over. One Saturday he was home and I started playing “One Night with you.” After it played about 3 times, he said “You play that record one more time and I’m gonna throw it off the hill.” Of course, I played it! He grabbed the record, walked out on the front porch, and sailed it off the hill. I was in disbelief how could he do this to Elvis! I went crying to mama and she thought it was funny. She said “He told you he was gonna do that. My mom liked Elvis; however, she apparently didn’t like that particular song either. I was the only sister he picked on because I think he liked to see me get riled up.  

After a few years of working at Martinsville Concrete he went to work at Bassett Furniture Company. He was recognized as being of good character and having good work ethics he was given a job in the Boiler room as a maintenance mechanic. Paul Amos was his supervisor and just so happened Paul had a pretty daughter named Nancy. Ernest and Nancy were introduced and started dating, and on July 23, 1960, they were married.  Together they had two daughters, Vicky and Becky. About this time Ernest returned to his roots and built a nice brick rancher for his family near his parents where he and Nancy raised their two daughters.   In 1978 Miller Brewery Company open a plant in nearby Eden NC.  Ernest was now 44 years old and was anxious to make a change to his working career.  After a lot of encouragement from a friend he applied to Miller and was accepted as a maintenance mechanic, specifically in the area of boiler/ power production. So began a long but happy relationship with Miller Coors Company. He made a lot of friends and often said it seemed like family instead of coworkers. After retirement, he and Nancy stayed connected with former coworkers by meeting at Hardies in Danville on Thursday morning for breakfast. 

He enjoyed being retired and loved going back to his farming roots by planting huge gardens every spring. Sometimes having as many as three spaces planted with many varieties of vegetables. Nothing could bring a bigger smile to his face than to discuss his gardens. He loved sharing his nice produce with family and friends.  

Ernst and sisters Betty, Millie and Lucille (The last picture of them together)

I have always thought my brother was one of the smartest people I have ever known. True, he did not have very much of an education, however this never stopped his love of learning. He loved reading and watching educational programs on television. He had one of the best memories and could remember the smallest details of things he had read or seen. One of things that brought him considerable pride was when he earned his GED certificate. 

Not just because he was my brother and I am sure many you will agree, Ernest was like no other. He was kind, considerate, and I never heard him put anyone down. Even if a person he knew was not a nice person, Ernest always had something nice to say about them. He was always ready to lend a helping hand or a kind word. He was always someone I knew if I needed him for anything, he was there for me. He will be missed but we can be comforted to know he is now with the love of his life, Nancy. 

Rest in Peace