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Leading life's parade nothing new for Dorothy Brown
When the Greencastle City Council was advised last month that Dorothy Brown would be this year's parade marshal, Councilman Mark Hammer was quick to comment.
Alluding to Brown's May accolade as an honorary degree recipient during DePauw University's annual commencement ceremonies, Hammer suggested, "Dorothy's had quite a year."
Let's correct that ... Dorothy's had quite a life.
Dedicating herself to lifelong learning, Brown has been a trailblazing educator, teaching special education in Gary and Greencastle, serving as principal at Ridpath Elementary (now Primary) School in Greencastle and at Warren Township in Indianapolis, teaching and serving in the Student Affairs Office at DePauw and volunteering her services for a year at St. Mary-of-the-Woods after retirement.
And even after retiring from education she hasn't strayed far from it, serving as housemother at DePauw's Phi Psi fraternity the past 25 years and doing a couple terms as a Greencastle School Board member.
Yet Brown, at 84 an endearing octogenarian, was a bit baffled when it was suggested she ride in the parade as its grand marshal.
"I never did 4-H," she admitted, although being an educator, she prepared herself for personal growth and lifelong learning.
"So our mottoes are really the same," she realized.
"It's quite an honor, quite an honor representing such a prestigious organization as 4-H," Brown said of being selected as grand marshal. "It was all a surprise to me. But it's for a good cause. I couldn't say no. It's really an honor to be asked.
"I just can't believe I said yes to Nancy (Michael, the Putnam County Fair Parade Committee chairman)."
That brought a laugh, that distinctive Dorothy Brown laugh that can't help but make you smile.
"Nancy came to the Phi Psi house to talk to me," she noted, raising an eyebrow to stress the uncertainty of the situation. "I had no idea what it was about."
It was about lending her personality and notoriety to one of the signature community events of the summer.
Of course she said yes, but now she's a little apprehensive.
"I don't like being on stage out front," she said of stepping into the spotlight, quickly turning it into a lighter moment. "I guess I'll have to practice my wave ... got to do it like the royals do it, you know."
But Dorothy Chapman Brown has been out front before. She was the first African-American teacher ever in Greencastle Schools, and experienced even more notoriety in ascending to principal in 1978.
"I remember being called into Dr. Coomer's office," she said of former Greencastle Superintendent John Coomer, who offered her the Ridpath principalship. "I was scared to death. I thought, 'I'm a woman and I'm African-American.'
"He said, 'So?' And gave me a couple days to think about it."
Obviously she took the job, becoming the first black educator to do so in Putnam County. It wasn't her first cultural shock.
"I was born in Tennessee and didn't come here until I was in the fourth grade," Brown said. "I had never heard of 4-H before I moved here. I had never been out of the town I lived in until I got on a train to come to Greencastle."
It was also quite the cultural change for a young girl trying to assimilate into the local schools.
"I only saw six other people who looked like me," she said. "It was a cultural change, yes. A cultural shock."
Her parents were sharecroppers, she said, and her father learned of construction jobs in Greencastle on DePauw's campus.
"He came here and helped build a couple of buildings," Brown recalled, "and when they were done, the Betas asked him to stay here as a house man."
After leaving to go away to college, Brown taught in Gary for 10 years before coming back to Greencastle to meet the local need for a special education teacher, a role she filled for three school years before going back into the classroom at old Miller School.
"Recently I saw a (special ed) student I taught while I was shopping at Kroger," she said of a former pupil who instantly recognized her. "He's done well, he's become a welder."
He obviously thought she was a big part of the reason why.
"He thanked me and gave me a big hug," Brown said, adding, "Wow!"
Currently as a housemother at Phi Psi, Brown says she will do at least one more year after the boys in the house urged her to top another woman's 25-year mark.
"It makes me get up and go," Brown said of the position. "There's nothing difficult about it. I enjoy it. I'm still teaching but in a different way."
Asked if she'd do it all over again, Brown's eyes sparkled and her smile grew.
"I would, I would, I sure would," she said, echoing remarks she made at the DePauw commencement.
It was then Brown told the gathering in May, "I accept this degree with much pride and humility, and I will allow it to serve as a testament to the value of serving one's community and serving in a profession with commitment and compassion."
That's the Dorothy Brown way.