THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 25, 1995 TAG: 9508250659
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
In his long, good life, Arthur Etheridge Brothers probably knew more about the health, happiness and heartaches of several thousand Albemarle citizens than anybody else this side of Heaven.
No more.
Brothers, a druggist who was as much of an Elizabeth City institution as the courthouse, died in bed Wednesday at his home in the 1200 block of East Williams Circle. He was 72.
His friends - all those thousands of them - will be grateful that the bed was covered with books and magazines. Arthur's glasses were beside him on the pillow.
In life, Brothers was rarely far from the books he loved and, if he had a choice in the matter, he would have certainly preferred to meet his Maker with reassuring reading material close at hand. So it was.
For more than 40 years, Arthur Brothers was one of the pharmacist-owners of the Overman & Stevenson drug store on downtown Main Street. Overman & Stevenson still has those old-timey glass globes full of colored water that tell kinder, gentler folk that they're in the right place to get a prescription filled.Brothers had a comfortably rounded disposition to match his waistline, and each day he probably saw more sick people - or talked with them on the telephone - than most doctors in an emergency room. Little Willie's skinned knee, Mama's backache and Uncle John's hangover often got primary listening care from Arthur.
Many old timers came in Overman & Stevenson just to talk to him. Any fancied ailment served as an excuse.
For Arthur was what the French call, with total respect and admiration, a savant, a vastly learned man who had absorbed every iota of a lifetime of reading and study.
What was more marvelous, Brothers was as interested in other people's troubles as in literary discussion. There were few times when Arthur couldn't find in his treasure house of knowledge just the right kind of reassurance for the ailing.
Arthur, himself, began to fail in recent years, moving more slowly, pretending he didn't hurt, and insisting nothing was wrong even though his face developed a waxiness that told a different story. And always he expected friends to save their sympathy for the more deserving.
``We worried about him every day,'' said H.P. Newbold, whose house is next door to the Brothers residence.
``One of us, one of the neighbors, went by every morning to listen and to make sure we heard his television going. That way we knew he was all right,'' said Newbold.
No sound came from Arthur's house Wednesday morning.
``Charlie Higgins, who lives next door on the other side of Arthur's house, went in with me and we found Arthur. . . . He was in bed with the books and magazines and his glasses.
``He looked like he'd just dropped off to sleep,'' said Newbold.
Brothers was a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was proud of his years of risk and derring-do in the Air Force during World War II. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church.
He is survived by a nephew, Michael Wayne Brothers of North Augusta, S.C., and a sister-in-law, Elizabeth Bradshaw Brothers, also of South Carolina.
Graveside services will be held Saturday at 11 a.m. in New Hollywood Cemetery, with the Rev. Bill Ruth and the Rev. David Moehring officiating. Twiford's Memorial Chapel is in charge of arrangements.
KEYWORDS: DEATH OBITUARY by CNB