Loris Orrin Brewer, Jr. of Lockhart, Texas passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 5, 2024, the day before the 80th anniversary of D-Day and the landing in Normandy, France known as Operation Overlord. Our country has lost another cherished World War II veteran.
Born in a shack in the Lytton Springs Margaret Louise (Cardwell) Brewer oil field on November 1, 1925, Mr. Brewer graduated from high school in 1943 and joined the U.S. Navy almost immediately. He often commented that he couldn’t see himself picking cotton and he knew that the U.S. Navy would offer him opportunities that were not available in Caldwell County, Texas. In addition, the world was at war. He wasn’t going to miss that.
Mr. Brewer’s obligations in the military included tours of duty in the European Theatre and the Pacific Theatre in WWII. As an 18 year-old Construction Battalion seaman (Seabee), he and his shipmates were heavily involved in the preparations for the D-Day invasion.
Mr. Brewer met the love of his life and soulmate, Mary R. Scalisi in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1940 when visiting family members, who had moved there from Texas. He often mentioned that he saw her for the first time wearing a large floppy hat riding a horse and her legs splayed out to the side. His eyes danced when he recounted this story over the years with family members. They were married on January 21, 1950, in Lake Charles and moved to Galveston, Texas shortly thereafter where he served on a Navy destroyer and she began the toughest job in the world – that of a U.S. Navy wife.
Over the next thirteen (13) years of their lives, while moving from duty station to duty station they would raise three (3) children, Christina, John (Rick), and David. Mr. Brewer was a true sailor having spent more than seventeen (17) years in sea duty commands. In his last sea-going command on the USS Lofberg (DD-759), he was promoted to Sonarman Chief Petty Officer (CPO), or SOC , and during this tour of duty served with a lifelong friend of his – CAPT John Derr. After his last tour of duty at Pacific Beach, Washington, he retired from the Navy after twenty (20) years of dedicated service to his country.
He returned with his family to Lake Charles, to pursue a degree in electronics, after retiring from the U. S. Navy on October 1, 1963. After receiving his degree from Sowella Technical Institute, he began the dream job he wanted. He was hired by the premier sonar equipment manufacturer at the time, Sangamo Electric Company and began a long career in the field of electronics and telecommunications. He rose from the ranks of sonar systems field engineer to become the head of Customer Engineering for a Sangamo subsidiary, Rixon Corporation based in Silver Spring, Maryland. While in semi-retirement in Fairplay, Missouri, he and his wife often contributed their personal time to the care of the elderly. In 1993, he and his soulmate relocated to Charleston, South Carolina. He became the CEO of SolTech Systems Corporation and helped to establish Internet services throughout the southeast in collaboration with other high technology companies. He fully retired in 1996.
The state of Texas always pulled at his heart strings and his return to Texas in 2003 was both joyous and challenging coming at a later stage in life. Now fully retired, he was able to pursue in full force one of his greatest interests – genealogy. Although he had already amassed more than 6,000 names in the Brewer family tree, he continued to add and refine the details of his beloved ancestors and other relatives. He liked to refer to it as chasing ghosts. Mr. Brewer and his son, David, walked many graveyards in Texas looking for relatives in the hopes of adding them to the family tree.
Mr. Brewer was a great lover of animals and took in strays of all kinds. Known as the “Catman of Canterbury Woods” in Charleston, SC it did not take long for him to collect new cats in Texas upon his return. His house in Texas remains a source of food for many of the feral cats, occasional possums and foxes, and other neighborhood cats just looking for some food. He would never turn away a hungry animal.
Mr. Brewer is preceded in death by his first son, John R. Brewer, and his beloved soulmate Mary. He is survived by his daughter Christina, son David and many grandchildren, great grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren. He was the leader of five (5) generations of Brewers on this earth.
Throughout his life, Mr. Brewer was an active member in the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and a member of the Annapolis, Maryland branch of the Fleet Reserve Association (FRA).
Mr. Brewer will always be remembered as a Texas gentleman who was so kind to everyone and generous to so many people. Anyone who knew him never mistook his kindness for a weakness. He was the rock of the family and the center of so many people’s lives. The devotion he showed toward his family and friends is inestimable.
The home, bought by Mr. Brewer and his wife Mary, upon their return to Texas in 2003, will forever fly three (3) flags that represent the round-trip journey that sent him on his way into the world and brought him back to Texas – the United States of America flag, The U.S. Navy flag, and the State of Texas flag. He honored them all.
Graveside services will be held at the Lytton Springs cemetery on June 22, 2024, at 10:00 a.m.
Donations to the Humane Society of America, in his honor, would be greatly appreciated.
Arrangements are under the care and guidance of McCurdy Funeral Home, Lockhart, TX
