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Read comments (3)Tonight's special called meeting of the county commission has been cancelled due to Brothers' death and will be rescheduled July 28 at 6 p.m., according to County Mayor Eugene Ray.
Brothers represented the Third District, including the Unionville area and Community School, for 30 years. He was chair of the county's Financial Management Committee and played a large part in shaping the county budget. He was also the commission's chairman pro tem.
"I have known Roger in excess of 35-36 years," said Ray. "We have served on the court in excess of 30 years together. Roger was a great asset to the community; also, he was a tremendous asset to the county. He had a tremendous business mind.
"He was a friend. He loved the county. He gave his life to the county. We will sadly miss Roger."
"He has really taught me a lot, and Bedford County is really going to miss him," said Jimmy Patterson, the other Third District commissioner. Patterson called Brothers "a gentleman and ... a scholar."
In June, Bedford County Board of Education voted to name the gymnasium at the new Community High School for Brothers. At that time, school board member Ron Adcock gave Brothers much of the credit for securing funding for the county's current school building program, including improvements to Central High School, a replacement for Community High School, and the new Learning Way Elementary.
In the past, prior to the implementation of a county finance department, he had worked in the county mayor's office.
He was a retired chief warrant officer with the Tennessee National Guard, with 38 years of service before his retirement in 1998. For most of that time, he worked as an auditor.
He was a former member and chairman of Shelbyville & Bedford County Senior Citizens Center board, served several terms as president of the Community School PTO and was a charter member of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Department. He was a past president of the Junior Pro Association of Unionville; he expanded and coached Little League and Babe Ruth baseball for several years.
Brothers had experienced health problems for some time, but continued to play an active role on the commission, attending commission and committee meetings even while carrying respiratory equipment.
The commission will appoint an interim successor to Brothers; the appointed successor will serve until the next general county-wide election.
And to think, the new Community High School would be visible from his home in Unionville :( He will surely get the total view from heaven. A very respected person who has truly garnished tons of support for and from his community. May you rest in peace, and God be with your family and friends. It's simply amazing how the new gym will be named after one of the few who truly deserved it.
My prayers are with the family and all his friends....I am so sorry for your lost...
As a member of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Dept., I would want to say, we will sorely miss Roger. As one of the founding members of the UVFD, he has always been a big time supporter of our cause. The citizens in the northwest corner of Bedford County probably do have a clue how much he meant to providing them with fire protection for 25 yrs. My prayers go out to his entire family.
Now on a personal note:
Whether you agreed with him or not, he always did what he thought was best for his district and the county as a whole. He made enemies and he made friends, but one thing was consistent, and that was people respected him.
I know personally, he was a good friend, and no matter how sick he was, his door was always open to me. There are very few commissioners that will stand up and fight for what is right. That's a quality that seems to have gone by the wayside for the past years. I just hope that the rest of the commissioners have taken notes from Roger.
As a county, so many people can sit by and criticize things that Roger has voted on in the past. I would bet he got a lot more criticism than appreciation. Someone like him never really gets the thanks he deserves. I have to admit, I have thanked him many times, but sometimes I feel just a "Thank You" is not enough.
Roger will be missed, but his legacy will live on. Whoever his successor shall be, will definitely have some big shoes to fill. I hope Jimmy Patterson and the rest of the commission make a wise choice. We need someone that will stand up for what they believe in and not simply give courtesy votes just to cater to the rest of the commissioners {so one commissioner has already admitted to me that is what he did}