Jim Brown: Dedicated to hard work and family

On Sunday, February 5, 2023, James (Jim) Thomas Henry Brown, husband of Beth (dec), father of James and Annette, passed away at 76 years.

Born in Paddington, Sydney on June 25, 1946, Jim was the second son born to Jazza (dec) and Una (dec) Brown.

His elder sibling Jack (dec) and younger brother Jeff spent their early days at Palm Beach in Sydney’s northern beaches, and from a very young age learnt to fish.

Leaving school at the age of 14 as was common in those days, Jim commenced working as a roller door fitter in Sydney.

Two years later Jim’s father retired from his work as a train driver at Werris Creek, and the family relocated to Narrabri.

Jim was now 16 and began work as a workshop-hand at mechanic repairers Amos Smith & Sons.

He met Narrabri local Len Hall soon after. It wasn’t long before Len had taught the younger Jim ‘the ropes’, and there began a life-long friendship.

They built a buggy named ‘The Wanderers’ and together enjoyed competing in the local mud trials.

The young Mr Hall was also instrumental in introducing Jim to the Narrabri social scene, and it was at a social dance held at the Narrabri Golf Club where Jim met the love of his life, a young local Bingara girl by the name of Beth Goodwin.

After an 18-month courtship, Jim asked Beth to marry him, however, his quest to marry Beth was met with opposition from Mr and Mrs Goodwin, who initially deemed this ‘mechanic’ not worthy of their daughter.

Forbidden to marry until Beth turned 21 years of age, the young couple waited patiently.

Jim and Beth were married on Beth’s 21st birthday, at Newcastle in 1971.

Building their home in Narrabri, the couple both worked at Amos Smith & Sons – Jim as a mechanic and Beth as a secretary.

They welcomed their first born, son James in September 1974.

During this time Jim became the main breadwinner so Beth could focus her attention on motherhood.

Their daughter Annette arrived 13 months later.

Even after a long day at work, Jim spent many a night walking the front balcony with one of the children in his arms – he had a magical touch of settling them.

Family was everything to Jim.

Even as a child, Jim would put his younger brother Jeff on the handlebars of his bicycle, so that they could all go places together and no one was left behind.

Around 1985, Amos Smith’s changed ownership and it was then that Jim and Beth decided to venture into a business of their own, at first in partnership with local couple Tom and Shirley Rogers, and within 12 months, launching their own company, JT and EH Brown.

Times were tough, but Jim’s reputation as a mechanic preceded him, growing his customer base quickly and within a year the business was running successfully with Jim doing the mechanical work and Beth managing the finances in the background.

Whilst the kids were growing up, Jim and Beth spent many weekends with their family ski boat ‘Jaybug’ at Yarrie Lake.

Regular family holidays consisted of road trips to visit family.

Time was spent at the beach, with Jim’s parents or in-laws in Nelson Bay, or with Jim’s brothers or Beth’s sisters and their families.

Jim had a great sense of fun and always took the opportunity to get out and have fun with the kids on holidays, whether it was body surfing at the beach, taking a hired catamaran for a sail or having snow fights in Orange.

Jim had the patience of a saint, whether it be teaching the kids to ski behind ‘Jaybug’, or teaching young James his trade.

Jim was a favourite and loved spending time with all ten of his nieces and nephews – whether it was riding motorbikes on his brother Jack and wife Gloria’s farm, or on trip to Orange enjoying the snow.

In the late 1980s, Jim and Beth moved out to a small property which they named ‘Ermelo Hill’ near Narrabri.

With the help of a local builder, the pair built their own house where they lived for the next 15 years until well after the kids had left home.

JT and EH Brown was operated from the property and the business continued to thrive.

During this time Jim and Beth (with kids in tow) were involved in the local Mud Trial Club and later became members of the Vintage Car Club.

The couple also managed to fit in many adventures and trips around Australia, either together or with family or close friends, and always with a caravan in tow.

In 2003 Jim and Beth sold part of the land off and had a second house built on their property, where they lived and continued to work at a slightly slower pace as their son, James started his own business operating from the property.

Jim’s slower pace afforded him the time to restore four vintage cars – a Hillman Husky, a short wheelbase Land Rover, a 1967 XR Ford Falcon and a Military Land Rover.

He did an amazing job on all these vehicles with a little help from his friend, Ray Johnson, who helped with the finishing touches and a final coat of paint.

In 2004, Jim and Beth were blessed with their first granddaughter, Lauren, followed by Andrea, and then later Jasmine.

Jim loved his granddaughters and when they were little, he was the first to grab them for a cuddle or sit on the floor and make faces at them.

As they grew older, Jim was so proud of the girls and their achievements.

In recent years he took to teaching his granddaughter Andrea how to drive.

Jim loved the hours spent driving around the countryside with her, although she tested his patience and his hand grips when she kept taking the corners too fast.

International travel was also a huge part of Jim’s life – he and Beth caught the travel bug, and for 10 years or so, they travelled much of the globe at different times, either together or accompanied by close friends.

In amongst those travels, in his late 50s to early 60s, Jim had both an aneurysm and a heart attack, but was blessed to survive through both.

Their journeys continued, traversing through Africa, Canada, Japan, China, Vietnam, Antarctica, Alaska, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, the UK, Europe and Egypt.

Over the years, Jim was involved in many local clubs and charities, including the Masonic Lodge as a mason for 48 years, organising the annual Masonic Debutante Ball, the Deep Creek Rural Fire Brigade where he was captain for around 20 years, the Narrabri Vintage Car Club, and the local volunteer group supporting the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Association.

Jim assisted with the annual registration days for the vintage car club and was often found at the gate of local meets or in committee meetings helping to organise fundraising or networking events.

Behind this full life was a kind, intelligent man – a quiet achiever who never took as much credit as he deserved.

He was known to just get involved and get the job done, an extremely hard worker and a strong capable person.

Jim had a high tolerance for pain and a low tolerance for fuss.

One day he turned up home from a job an hour or two away with his thumb almost severed – the bonnet of a tractor had come down on his thumb while he was working on the motor.

He bandaged his thumb up, finished the job, and drove home.

He would have been suffering an intense amount of pain, but it still didn’t stop him from doing what he needed to do.

Jim was a great mechanic.

The family recall the story of the horror on their grandpa’s face when Jim put all the parts from his tractor motor into one bucket.

Mr Goodwin was amazed when Jim was able to put the tractor back together, with not one part left in that bucket. That was the day Beth’s father accepted Jim as his son-in-law and he had a huge amount of respect for Jim after that.

Jim loved anything mechanical from building go-carts to helping the kids choose their own cars as they grew older.

With an inquiring and intelligent mind, there seemed to be no problem in life unsolvable.

Jim had an innate ability to problem solve and he always came up with a solution.

Hence, he was given the nickname ‘radar’ because he could diagnose almost any mechanical issue just by listening to it.

Jim would willingly give up his time to help anyone in need, he would drop everything to be there to help, and he wasn’t afraid to get in the thick of it and get his hands dirty in the process.

Jim also would take the time to pass his knowledge on to anyone who was willing to listen and learn.

Jim had an uncanny ability to pack any large amount of stuff into a small space.

He would meticulously place items in a way that would make use of every available inch of space, which came in extremely handy for family vacations in the old XC Falcon.

Jim had a great sense of humour and one day he won over his mother-in-law.

She was serving up wheat bran to the children for breakfast, and Jim began scooting around the kitchen flapping his arms and clucking like a chook.

Mrs Goodwin eventually saw the funny side, and needless to say she never fed the children chook food again, and after that day, there was a newfound respect for Jim.

Jim had to say goodbye to many of his loved ones, his Mother Una, his father Jazza, his elder brother Jack, and many good friends.

The most difficult loss for him was that of his cherished wife of 51 years, Beth, in April 2022.

Jim’s love for Beth had been unwavering, for the whole 51 years they were together he loved and respected her, especially through the hard times.

In late 2019, Jim was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal lung disease. He was able to take medication to slow the progression of the disease down, but it was not without side-affects.

A year later Beth was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and there began a hard two years for both Jim and Beth as Beth underwent treatment, with Jim by her side the whole way through.

After the loss of his life-long partner, Jim’s condition deteriorated more rapidly. It was a hard end for him – to have his body fail his mind, all the while suffering a broken heart.

At the end of his journey, the family knew he just wanted to be with Beth again.

James Thomas Henry Brown, better known as Jim, Jimmy, Dad, Pa Pa, or Uncle Jimmy, is survived by his children James and Annette and their families. He will be sadly missed.

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