Obituaries

Frederick Dale Brasher, age 54, passed away on September 3rd at his family home in Whitemound, TX, just a few months shy of his 55th birthday.

The family will receive friends from 4 -5 p.m. on Saturday, September 12th and services will begin immediately thereafter. Both visitation and funeral services will be held at Dannel Funeral Home in Sherman and will be officiated by Reverend Mike Perry of Merriman Hills Baptist Church. Dale will be laid to rest near his grandparents, mother and father, and other close relatives in the Holloway Cemetery in Luella, Texas.

Dale, also known as Fred, especially to some with whom he so honorably served our country, was born at Wilson & Jones Hospital in Sherman, Texas to Kenneth Dale and Linda Kay (nee Hughes) on December 18, 1965. He attended schools in Sherman and Tom Bean and graduated from Tom Bean High School in 1984. He studied at Grayson County College following his military service but quickly chose a life of “tools and fresh air” over “desks, pencils and paper”.

Fred was honored to serve in the United States Army and to endure personal sacrifice to protect the freedoms we so often take for granted. Fred was deployed to Southwest Asia in 1990 as part of the United States’ response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in August of that year in a war that had multiple campaigns but is broadly classified as the “Gulf War”. During his deployment Fred regularly made dangerous trips into Iraq and surrounding regions to setup camps, repair and/or recover personnel and equipment, and ultimately as part of our forces successful efforts to repel the Iraqi invasion. Fred received several awards recognizing his service and the most significant are as follows: National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Sharpshooter Badge, and Southwest Asia Service Medal with 2 Bronze Stars.

Following his military service Dale drove a big rig for several years and then finished his working career as a diesel mechanic until his retirement due to disability circa 2007. For many years before and up to his retirement Dale suffered with unimaginable pain from a rare disease known as ankylosing spondylitis, a form of arthritis that started in his lower back and spread throughout his body and greatly affected his mobility and caused excruciating pain. Dale also battle disabilities and other ailments for more than 20 years.

Like his father, Dale had a gift for music and art and created many canvas oil paintings that he loved to gift to family and friends. Those of us lucky enough to receive these gifts will cherish them the rest of our days. Dale had such a kind heart and would help others even though he didn’t have the resources and needed help himself. We will remember his sense of humor, his wonderful laugh and smile, and his ability to embellish a story and entertain. Dale had a gift for turning a simple spoken phrase into something that would be not only amusing, but also insightful and thought provoking. Dale’s death leaves a hole in our hearts that cannot be repaired until we all join him at each of our appointed times with our father in Heaven.

Dale is preceded in death by both his paternal and maternal grandparents and his father and mother, Kenneth Dale and Linda Kay, respectively. He is survived by his brother Michael Keith (spouse Patti Morell) and sister Susan Kay Webb, many first cousins and especially those who grew up “next door” and were practically his siblings, Kim Still (Jeff Poore), Mark Patterson, and Jeremy Hughes (Kim), and his beloved nieces and nephews Christopher Thompson, Angelia Cline (Brian) and Natalee Brasher (Nicolas). There are so many other loving relatives too numerous to list but the immediate family would like to acknowledge and have them know they are not forgotten.

Pallbearers will be Michael Brasher, Mark Patterson, Jeremy Hughes, Nicolas Lisperguier, Natalee Brasher and Steven Franklin.

As a final note from the family it is our belief that there are many untold stories from Fred’s experience that will never be known and sadly such is likely the case with many of our cherished veterans. We would humbly and graciously ask that you make time to talk to your loved ones who have served and sacrificed for our freedom, to make time to understand his or her physical, mental and/or emotional pain and suffering, and never ignore signs of trouble even though confronting such issues is difficult.