BRANDE WAS ONE OF A KIND

John Brandeburg lived like he was obsessed with befriending every member of the human race.

Fittingly then, in his final moments, he was thinking of others.

I know. I received an email from Brande the weekend he passed away.

He was replying to my inquiry about the possibility of my friend Bill Mallonee playing a fundraising concert for the Leesburg Lightning. Brande, the Lightning’s general manager, answered that he didn’t think the team’s board members would go for the idea.

And that should have been the end of it for John Brandeburg, who was in the middle of the biggest real estate deal of his career.

But Brande didn’t roll that way. Things stuck in his mind ... and more importantly, in his heart.

If a friend had a problem, Brande also had that problem.

I wasn’t surprised, then, when Brande tried to get a local college interested in sponsoring a concert.

When they didn’t bite, he tried another college … and then a performing arts center. The guy was working harder to help me than I was.

Brande was always all-in, never one foot in and the other out.

Brande lived to help others.

Brande wouldn’t say, “You might want to talk to …”. Nope. He’d make the contact.

I know. Brande recommended me to our publisher Kendra Akers to write the history of Leesburg baseball for a 16-page insert for Style magazine. But Brande did more than suggest, he personally phoned me, explained the project, and gave me Kendra’s contact information.

Most people would have said, “Call this guy.” Brande made the call.

That extra effort started a chain of events that led to an unhappy newspaper editor finding a home where he feels appreciated every day.

Brande and I weren’t the closest of friends — 1,000 people knew him better than I did. But I’m sure glad he came into my life 18 years ago. I’ll never forget breakfasts at Water Oak Country Club when he had an idea he wanted to bounce off me. Or sitting together at a Lightning game, although Brande never sat for long. He was always working the crowd, selling 50-50 tickets, handing out programs, cheering his beloved Lightning.

Today, I cheer for Brande.

Gary Corsair

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