James Brink

A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at St. Michael Catholic Church for James (Jim) Anthony Brink at 11 a.m. Tuesday with the Rev. Edward Markley, O.S.B., officiating. Burial will follow at St. Michael Cemetery.
He made his safe and peaceful transition to the Lord at ECM Hospital in the early morning hours of July 8, 2011. He was born March 27, 1926, in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. He often said that his name was James, John, Joseph, Anthony Brink because his mother couldn't decide which one to choose.
He learned his strong work ethic at the age of 11 when his father died, leaving a widow and five children. Jim became the caretaker and provider for his mother and siblings. He worked as a paper carrier and did odd jobs with little pay and spent the summer working on the Locker family farm in St. Florian.
He left school at the age of 15 to work in the naval shipyards in Brunswick, Ga., and at the Willow Run Bomber Plant in Detroit. World War II provided him the opportunity to earn more money for his family. Even though he was underage, Jim joined the U.S. Navy so he could claim his mother and siblings as dependents.
He served for 23 months, with 16 of those on sea duty aboard the heavy cruiser U.S.S. Chester in the South Pacific area and in the China Sea. He participated in 12 major engagements, four invasions, including watching through binoculars from the ship's deck as the American flag was raised on Iwo Jima. He earned four battle stars. He truly was one of "the greatest generation."
After his discharge from the Navy, he moved to Florence where he briefly attended Florence State Teachers College and, still more briefly, worked at Reynolds Metal. He even learned brick-laying skills by helping to lay bricks for the foundation of the St. Michael parish house. He soon decided that he wanted to be his own boss and thus began his career as "the candy man." He was with Curtis Candy Co. from 1949 to 1958. The following year he began Jim Brink Sales.
He bought his first five-unit apartment building on East Tuscaloosa Street in 1959. He rented four of the units, lived in the fifth and built a storehouse for his candy. He gradually purchased more apartment units while maintaining Jim Brink Sales until its sale in 1978. He completed construction of Chestnut Arms Apartments in 1981.
He is survived by his loving wife of 30 years, Barbara; his beloved son, Tony (James Anthony Brink Jr.) and wife, Debbie; grandsons, Jamie (Jamison Ashley) Brink and wife, Whitney; Chris (Warren Christopher) Brink and wife, Stacey, Wes (James Westley) Brink and wife, Haley, all of Florence; stepdaughter, Deanna Livingston and husband, Phil, of Houston, Texas; stepgranddaughter, Kelly Livingston, of Washington D.C.; stepgrandson, Ryan Livingston, of Houston, Texas; great-grandsons, Noah, Collier and Eastlon Brink; great-granddaughter, Madelyn Brink, all of Florence; brother, Henry Brink and wife, Mary Lee, of Huntsville; and sister, Teresa Brink Meigs, of Jacksonville, Fla.
He was preceded in death by his father, Tony (Anthony Joseph Brink), and mother, Theresa Locker Brink, of Lawrenceburg; the mother of his son, Katherine Gist Brink Williams, of Florence; brother, Lawrence Brink, and sister, Rose Brink Goodman, both of Nashville.
He was a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church from 1950 to 1999, St. Michael's Catholic Church from 1999 to the present, the Holy Name Society, Knights of Columbus, Council 3989, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Elks Lodge, local, state and national Home Builders Associations. He was a licensed builder and was honored by the Shoals Home Builders Association as Builder of the Year in 1990.
He was one of the original members of the UNA President's Cabinet and made numerous contributions, including to the UNA Lion Pride Leo and Una home and the restoration of Rogers Hall, as well as to numerous civic, political and religious groups. He often helped others without letting anyone know "his random acts of kindness."
He enjoyed boating, snow skiing and traveling to a certain extent, but his favorite avocation was work. He loved skiing the School Marm slope at Breckinridge. He traveled throughout the United States and Europe, as well as to China and Peru. His very favorite was his journey to Egypt.
The family extends its loving gratitude and blessings for the care and compassion shown by the ECM nurses in the ICU and the nurses of DaVita Dialysis, Drs. Edsel Holden, Therese Lango, Felix Morris, A.E. Joiner, Mike Shukla, N. Ras Boorgu, Rajesh Boorgu, P. Keith Thompson, Earl Walker and to Dr. Flowers and Dr. Safarian in the ECM ER, as well as to all those doctors, technicians, specialists, cleaning and maintenance staff and so many others who were there even though we didn't meet them. None are finer than they.
Pallbearers are grandsons, Jamie, Chris and Wes Brink, Ryan Livingston and special friends, James Johnson and David Wylie.
Honorary pallbearers are remaining friends from his Lawrenceburg school years, Clarence Orth, of Nashville, A.J. Thompson, of Southhaven, Miss., and John Walsh, of Lawrenceburg.
The family will receive friends 6-8 p.m. Monday, July 11, 2011, at Greenview Funeral Home, with Rosary preceding at 5:30 p.m.
An online guest book may be viewed and signed at greenviewmemorial.com.
In lieu of flowers, tributes may be made to the St. Michael Building Fund or the St. Joseph School Foundation.
Jim will be remembered as "the candy man" and the "landlord" ­- as a hard taskmaster who was hardest and most demanding of himself and often of those he loved most.
He took great pride in his son and grandsons and the men they came to be. His life was full and filled with many challenges, accomplishments and blessings, but he considered these men to be his greatest. Through his work and theirs, that five-unit apartment building grew into more than 550 rental units throughout the Shoals.
Military honors will be accorded at graveside by the U.S. Navy.
Arrangements by Greenview Funeral Home.