It was not love at first sight. In fact, after the young guy flirted with her at a ballgame,
Velma turned to a friend and said, “Who was that little boy?” Talmadge Brown did not
make the impression he’d hoped on the pretty young lady with whom he was smitten.
His persistence won her over, though, and they were married on New Year’s Eve 1953 by a local minister in a simple home ceremony. Talmadge was 17, and Velma was 20. Those in attendance never stopped teasing Talmadge that he nearly caught his shirt on fire with the candles Velma lit for decoration.
Maybe it was not love at first sight, but it certainly was a love that endured until “death do us part” and beyond. Throughout nearly 70 years of marriage, theirs was a love so unusual it received nationwide notoriety through a series of news articles during the COVID pandemic.
It was not a Hollywood-style romance. Talmadge and Velma were never wealthy, famous, or glamorous. Both hailed from rural communities in East Tennessee and learned early in life to work hard and do without. Talmadge came from a family of ten children and grew up in a series of small cottages or “shacks” as he called them. Velma’s family were farmers who eventually owned their own small dairy farm.
Neither grew up attending church with any regularity. With the demands of farming, feeding large families, and eking out a living during the Great Depression and World War II, neither family made church a priority. Velma, however, sometimes walked to church with her sister and, as a teenager, gave her heart to Jesus at a revival meeting. Unfortunately, she never established a habit of regular church attendance and did not receive the discipleship needed to grow in her faith. The young couple began married life without a foundation of strong faith in Christ.
Ten months after their wedding, they welcomed their first baby Norman. Thirteen months later, Kyle joined the family, and 13 months after that, baby Diana was born. The doctor who delivered all three is quoted as saying, “I’ll see you next year!”
He was to be disappointed, however, when six years elapsed before their youngest child, Connie, arrived.
While Velma was busy with the first three “littles,” Talmadge began hanging out with some young men who enjoyed playing cards and drinking. One day, when Velma opened the refrigerator to retrieve a baby bottle, she discovered Talmadge had added a beer bottle to the stash. As their daughter Diana Postlewaite recalls, “Mom might not have been a mature believer, but she knew beer bottles and baby bottles should not be side by side in her refrigerator, and she let Dad know that by pouring his beer down the sink.”
Around the same time, some Christian men from a church in the community began visiting the Browns and attempting to talk to the young father about the Lord. Talmadge was not even a little bit interested. In fact, he made it his habit to sneak out the back door and disappear into the nearby woods when they came knocking.
On one snowy winter night, the visitors felt strongly they should pursue him. Because of the deep snow, Talmadge had not ventured into the woods as usual. The Christian men found him, shared the simple gospel message with him, and were thrilled when he gave his heart to Jesus. His young wife made a fresh commitment to follow Christ, and their walk of faith and ministry began. They determined from that point forward to raise their children in the Christian faith and to model a faithful lifestyle in their daily lives.
Liberty Free Will Baptist Church became their church home, welcoming the young family, discipling them, and giving them opportunities to serve. There, Talmadge answered the call to preach and was mentored by men such as Henry Bailey, Ralph Staten, and George Dunbar. Their willingness to disciple and train this uneducated and unchurched young man resulted in a pastoral ministry that spanned seven decades, three states, and at least eight churches.
It was never a marriage filled with romance, roses, and extravagant getaways. Most years found them celebrating their wedding anniversary at a New Year’s Eve watchnight service at the churches they pastored. Velma was a dedicated stay-at-home mom and pastor’s wife whose life was characterized by faithfulness and hospitality. Their son Kyle Brown recalled her role as hostess was not always voluntary but always cheerful. She weekly prepared Sunday lunch for her family but was often informed on the way home from church another family or two would be joining them.
When asked about the secret to their parents’ successful marriage, their children offered several themes:
They shared common goals and interests: to love and serve Christ and His church, to raise their children in the faith, and to work together to make their relationship succeed. Each became a student of the Word, and they dedicated themselves to obeying its content. They enjoyed gardening and traveling throughout their lives and into retirement.
They each knew their role and fulfilled it. Their marriage operated according to traditional roles, and each was happy and secure. “Mom didn’t try to be Dad, and Dad didn’t try to be Mom,” says their son Kyle. “It really was beautiful teamwork in ministry and in the family.” Both gave 100% of their energy to the tasks before them and remained hard workers who found joy in a job well done.
They maintained a sense of humor. Though Velma was a quiet, behind-the-scenes person, she always had a twinkle in her eyes that indicated she was never far from laughter. She loved Erma Bombeck and other humorous columns in the newspaper, but she also found humor in everyday life. Talmadge enjoyed practical jokes and amused himself by waking overnight guests with a loud fiddle serenade.
They took care of each other. Their mutual love manifested in a deep respect and selfless attention to the other’s needs. Velma was a good cook and a loving, respectful wife and mother. Talmadge worked hard to provide for his wife and family in every way and spent even his leisure time working on various home projects. When they reached retirement years, Talmadge used his days off to build a home near Erwin, Tennessee, where they met those many years before. When the home was completed, the couple moved into what they hoped would be their forever home.
However, by the time Velma turned 80 in 2013, it was evident she was suffering from Alzheimer’s. Talmadge lovingly cared for her in their home as long as he could, but a move into the Memory Care Unit at Governor’s Bend became inevitable in 2016.
In the words of their son Kyle, “When Mom came down with Alzheimer’s, Dad’s world turned upside down. It was a natural pivot for him to turn his entire focus on caring for her, and that’s exactly what he did. The life they had built together was so precious to him that his entire purpose in life became making her as secure and comfortable as possible. The days and years they spent together now culminated in a beautiful reverence and an outpouring of love to the one who had been by his side for the past nearly 70 years of marriage. And what a beautiful story it was.”
Their daughter Diana adds, “On July 1, 2016, the daily (often twice a day) trips to visit his sweetheart began. His well-documented ’window visits’ from March 2020 until he sold their beloved home and moved into Governor’s Bend himself in August of that year, were nationally documented by various news services. What became a ’story’ during COVID didn’t surprise any of us children. Our parents had been totally devoted to each other and to the Lord before the disease that separated them became part of their history.”
In an interview with WJHL, News Channel 11, Talmadge explained why he spent so many hours outside Velma’s window. “We’ve always been real close together. We’ve never been separated in over 60 years of marriage, and I just want to be with her all the time.”
When asked about how it felt to go home at night, he replied, “It’s tough, because…it’s lonely.” (Read the interview: https://bit.ly/2UgORy6)
The staff at Governor’s Bend loved Preacher Brown and Velma and were often moved to tears by the beauty and rarity of their relationship. As one staff member is quoted as saying, “Everyone should be loved like they love each other.”
After 69 years of marriage, Velma passed away in January 2023. Talmadge followed less than 15 months later in April 2024. Their earthly bodies are buried in the beautiful cemetery at Liberty Church, the church that loved them and trained them so well.
When 17-year-old Talmadge asked Velma’s dad for permission to marry his daughter, the answer was, “Well…I guess she could do worse.”
Indeed, the passing years made it obvious that neither could possibly have done any better. Their love was the real thing.
About the Writer: Ruth McDonald is director of WNAC. Learn more: www.WNAC.org.
