For most of the 20th century and much of the 21st century, he was pretty much the best friend Brunswick and the Golden Isles ever had.

He drove a vehicle from Brunswick to St. Simons Island the first time it was possible, traveling the brand new causeway we know today as FJ Torras on the day it opened in 1924. Yet he continued to actively serve on the boards of the Brunswick Bar Harbor Pilots Association and the Epworth By The Sea Conference and Spiritual Retreat Center until recently.

Through it all, from Brunswick Kiwanis Club meetings to local real estate transactions, he was always ready with a friendly smile, a handshake and a phrase that must have made us laugh.

Bill Brown died at the Hospice des Iles d’Or on Saturday. He was 103 years old.

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday January 8 at Brunswick’s First Methodist Church, 1400 Norwich St. Masks are required.

“His philosophy was that a stranger is just a friend you haven’t met,” said his daughter, Marian Lawlor. “I never met someone who didn’t like him. And he loved everyone. He was truly a friend to all.

Coming from a family with Brunswick roots dating back to the Revolutionary War, Mr. Brown was born in the former Dart House at 4 Glynn Ave. December 3, 1918. Son of Simon Hadley Brown and Ethel Gray Dart, Mr. Brown and his four siblings grew up in the historic house that overlooked the Marsh from 1876 to 2017.

Mr. Brown was a man who lived his life with his glass half full. Born with a split pallet that made him ineligible for military service, Mr. Brown instead joined the ranks of those producing Liberty Ships for the war effort in the Brunswick River shipyards. The minor speech impediment that accompanied the split palette might have made a less cheerful person seek out a reclusive career path. Mr. Brown has become a real estate salesman, and a damn good one. Although there are now nearly half a million real estate agents statewide, Mr. Brown held Real Estate License No. 284. He practiced real estate in Brunswick and the Golden Islands for about 60 years, always ready with a spiritual zinger or a hard-hitting historical anecdote.

Mr. Brown married Margaret Ann Johnston in 1946. Together the couple formed a strong and successful real estate team while raising their son and daughter in the Windsor Park area.

A dedicated Methodist, Mr. Brown began his term on the Epworth Board of Directors in the 1970s and was still serving on the Board in an Emeritus capacity at the time of his death.

“Bill Brown was just a great person,” said Joel Willis, President and CEO of Epworth. “He liked to laugh. He liked to tell jokes. He was one of the good guys. They don’t make them like Bill anymore. And I think he really believed in our ministry at Epworth, which is why he gave us so much time. He was just a great guy.

Brown has also served on the board of directors of the local Port Pilots Association, which oversees the affairs of the pilots who direct inbound and outbound merchant ships to Brunswick Harbor from around the world.

“He knew the port was very important to the economy of Brunswick and the Golden Isles,” said Willis. “He was a huge supporter of the local marine industry. “

Mr. Brown was a loyal member of the Kiwanis Club of Brunswick, where his jokes became a staple of every meeting.

Mr Brown died at the hospice at 12:50 a.m. on Saturday, shortly after the arrival of the new year. On December 3, dozens of friends and supporters showed up at the Hospice des Iles d’Or to join Mr. Brown in celebrating his 103rd birthday.

Knowing his father’s penchant for making people laugh, Lawlor couldn’t help but think of the coincidence that Mr. Brown passed away around the same time as comic centennial Betty White.

“You know he’s up there now,” she said, “looking up for Betty White to say, ‘have you heard of…’”