Young car enthusiast lived life on wheels
Clancy, a service dog belonging to the James Tarbox family of Maplewood, helped Robert M. Brown III work with a new wheelchair several years ago. Brown died last month.
Robert M. Brown III, 17, of St. Paul Park, died July 20. Brown was very active and well-known in the state’s car enthusiast community, not letting his disabilities slow him down. Brown attended school at Rondo Education Center and Bridgeview School in St. Paul and later White Bear Lake District 916 South Campus.
Brown was the “Prez” of the Pharaohs and Haters car club, Minnesota Street Rod Association, Dago 6 of the Dago’s and the president of the Possie. He frequently attended car shows and often came home a winner. He enjoyed Saturdays at the garage with his car buddies. He was known as “Lil Bopper” as his father’s nickname is “Bopper.”
Friends remembered Brown as someone who always put others before himself, and who always had a smile. Services were held July 23 at Mueller-Bies Funeral Home in Roseville. He is survived by parents, Mary and Bob (Bopper), siblings Michelle, Jason (Jeanine), Mitch (Casey), Scott (Kristy), Stephanie, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and friends.
Harry Drake was arts patron
Arts patron Harry M. Drake, 86, died July 3 at his St. Paul home. Deaf since birth, Drake was involved in many organizations and served on the boards of Courage Center Foundation, Minnesota Foundation for Better Hearing and Speech.
Drake attended the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Mo., for several years as a young boy, where he learned to lip-read. That skill served him well throughout his life. He later attended the St. Paul
Academy and then spent one year at the Middlesex School in Concord, Massachusetts. He received his B.A. in art from Macalester College in St. Paul in 1950. He attended the Art Center College of Design in Los Angele and worked in New York City and St Paul for advertising and graphic design firms.
Drake designed his own home, took part in sports, and was an archivist, art collector and philanthropist. Some of his private collection of photos went on in a 1997 exhibition at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
He was archivist for St. Paul Academy and Macalester College, endowed Macalester’s Harry M. Drake Distinguished Professorship in the Humanities and Fine Arts in 1998 and received Macalester’s 2005 Distinguished Citizen Award. St. Paul Academy dedicated its centennial history book to Drake and named the Harry M. Drake Gallery in his honor. Private graveside services were held, with a public event to be announced later.
Suddard oversaw disability services
Alan C. Suddard M.D. , died July 8. The Ohio native retired as chief medical consultant after 30 years at Social Security Disability Determination Services.
Suddard received a B.A. from University of Chicago; and graduated from University of Minnesota Medical School in 1963. He had a wide range of interests and hobbies including reading, biking and hiking, and classical music and jazz. He most recently lived in the memory care unit at Sholom East in St. Paul.
He is survived by wife Irene, daughters, Kerry Swenson (Wayne), Lesli Johnson (Lyle), Wendy Suddard-Bangsund (Ken), Jody Carlson (Bryan), Tracy Heaps (Darryl), JulieAnne Larson (Gunnar), and Kelsey Suddard. He had 24 grandchildren and 17 greatgrandchildren.
Memorial services were held July 16 at Lakewood Memorial Chapel, Minneapolis.
