The Christian Gentleman I Knew As My Daddy/ Date Shakes 

Posted in Childhood memories, Circleville, Dessert, Drinks, Family Stories, Parents and Grandparents by

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Rev. P. Lewis Brevard

There are so many fun and good things that I will  say of our “Daddy”, Paul Lewis Brevard. He was the only child of Joel and Callie Brevard, born with a separated lip and cleft palate. But his parents made sure he never felt sorry for himself, and they did a good job of this, too. He told me that on his first day of junior high, kids were making fun of him and he went home crying day after day until his father told him enough was enough! My grandfather, Pap as I called him, said “you come home one more day crying, I’m going to spank you hard enough you’ll have something real to cry about.” So the next day when he went to school and the same teasing happened, he knew he had to take care of things for himself. So he did. He gathered up all the courage he could muster and tore into the boy who was doing the most teasing!! When my dad did this with all he had, he won the fight. And he said from then on, that boy became his best friend, and he never had to fight again because his friend would do it for him. With that hurdle behind him he could concentrate on other things he enjoyed. He found out he had a natural talent for playing the guitar, and play he did. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could hear his music from one end of the city to other. The more he played the better he became. He could play by ear and read the notes. He played in high school and college, forming groups and traveling to Cuba and other foreign countries. He even played at the Grand Ole Opry with other guitar greats like Chet Atkins. Once he was asked to be in Hank Williams band, but he chose to go the Christian route instead .

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The trio is Barney Pierce, Buford Cruise, Lewis Brevard

He was always happy and loved to play jokes on people. On his 21st birthday he was standing at the bottom of his parents stairs calling up to them saying, “Mom, Dad there’s a man down here!! Hurry!!” His father came running down the stairs, past my dad, looking franticly and turned back to asked my dad, where ? My Dad said pointing to himself, “right here, Dad. I became a man today.”

After college in N.Y. he went to Cincinnati, Ohio to God’s Bible School, and that’s where he met my mother. She had heard him play on the radio when she was in high school in West Virgina, and when she heard him again she remarked to a friend how much she enjoyed his music. The girl said, “I know him and he’s playing right now at the radio station. Would you like to go meet him?” Well, you already know her answer, and meet him she did!  They eventually married and moved to Circleville, Ohio where he managed the printing office for the Churches of Christ in Christian Union. Along with this, he continued to play his guitar as much as he could, going from church to church all over Ohio, Indiana and Illinois and sometimes to several other states as well. We as a family would go along with him and sing and mom would play the piano. This was a fun family activity we enjoyed together for many, many years.

Through the years Dad would get the chance to work in Washinton, DC, for the government printing office, and we almost moved there. But after doing this job for awhile he decided it would be better for us kids to grow up in Circleville, Ohio so he returned to the publishing department there. He also was given the chance to work in Columbus for the Weekly Reader and enjoyed that until they wanted him to move to Connecticut. He had grown up in a large city, Pittsburgh, Pa. and now enjoyed the smaller city life. So again, he turned that down. He was a happy man and I think the decisions he made through his life came with a lot of prayer first.

Paul Lewis Brevard, Lew to most people, was known as a Christian Gentleman who wore a black hat with his suit, had a song in his heart and a joke in his pocket.image

In 1946 when Mom and dad were on their honeymoon in Southern California, they drove by this quaint little place called Orange Inn. They were advertising “date milkshakes”. Who had ever heard of that unless you lived in California? Immediately they drove in and drank one! It became my Dad’s favorite milk shake forever.image

 A date farmer in Southern California created it in 1930. It is very tasty and very rich so you don’t need a large one! For your information, every year in Indio, California in February there is a date festival, featuring, of course, date shakes! Anyone want to go? Let me know and we’ll go together.

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36 thoughts on “The Christian Gentleman I Knew As My Daddy/ Date Shakes ”

  3. My dad loved life more than anyone I have ever known! He never got angry and always made us laugh. Dad was a true “Christian gentlemen” who ministered to so many people through playing his Hawaiian guitar. Thank you for sharing your music with the world. I miss you daddy!!

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  4. I can just see him smile about your remembrances❤️ I loved when he played steel and your mother the piano. As we sat in the family room. The girls loved when he would make the train horn ! You are so blessed to have them as parents. Thanks for sharing your memories❤️

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  5. So much I never knew about your mom and dad especially since we took turns going to each others house almost every day when we were in Elementary School. Loved when I came to yours because I got to ride the school bus. What a lovely wedding picture of your mom and dad, they were such a loving soft spoken special couple. A couple I will always remember. Your dad had quite an amazing life, a man of God who made wonderful decisions for his family. Loved this article LeAnna.

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  6. He was the sweetest man, and he always had a smile for everybody. Both of your parents added so much to so many lives, mine included. Thank you for sharing all these great stories, some I have heard and some I haven’t but all are just delightful.

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  10. Oh, Leanna, I love this so much. I, too, remember your daddy, especially his music and pranks! So many hours as a child of sitting around the kitchen table with him, your mom and my parents. (And all those wonderful adventures in WV….did you write about that??? I have never been any further rural than that campground!) I read this to my dad today and he laughed and laughed. I can tell he remembered. He loved the wedding picture the most. Thanks for bringing up the wonderful memories of my childhood. I am richly blessed by many adventures of my parents with yours! Thanks for taking time to write the stories!

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  21. Your Dad was just the embodiment of love — to know him was to love him. I always will remember his big smile and his hearty laughter. I know how you & Rose miss him still; he was always so close and very present in your lives. I miss his beautiful presence too.

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  22. What a great story, he was the kindness, happiest person I
    ever met, he was alway smiling with a twinkle in his eye.
    Thank for sharing this story.

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  23. I love this story. Your parents were very special people. I remember your dad always having a smile and a joke and both of them always a ready hug ! They were such a support to me the last few years of my parents lives with my parents in Ohio and me so far away ! I loved them and considered them my second parents . Thanks for sharing the stories and them all those years; brings back a lot of great memories!

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