This is the last of a three-part series of articles written about Brett Wholesale of Sumner by Rebecca LaNelle Brett Lacey.
As I mentioned earlier, our sons enjoyed being involved at the business, sometimes going with Daddy on his sales route, riding with Mr. Pennington on the forklift, stamping cigarettes or just playing with the adding machines. Mama, Helen and their Aunt Becky never said they were in the way. That office group had it under control!
Mama and Daddy definitely worked as a team. Somehow, in our childhood years, I never thought of Mama as a “working mother.” She was always available for us. She never missed a church, PTA, civic club, music club, piano recital or any activity in which we were involved. That could never have worked so smoothly had it not been for Helen McCullough, working without skipping a beat, and Mary Sue Robertson (May May), who kept us and the home front going as our parents worked.
The office of Brett Wholesale became somewhat of a morning “coffee club,” which offered an atmosphere that seemed to last most of the day, every day. Mama, Daddy, Helen and Becky always had a welcome smile for anyone stopping by the office, most on a regular basis, such as LP Marshall, Tubbs, Dink Morrow, our ministers, customers and anyone who needed Mama’s help as she was heavily involved in everything! Church treasurer and those with various community concerns were always coming in the door. Somehow, with all that friendly visiting, they would manage to get through the day with only a short noon stop to go home to eat and return. (In those days, Mama took an extra hour to watch “As the World Turns.”)
Daddy worked long hours. Waking at 5:30 a.m., he would unlock the door for May May, eat his breakfast cereal and have his private devotion and Bible reading — every day, without fail. He was a dedicated Rotarian, town alderman, volunteer fireman, total Bulldog fan, volunteer for many needs, even sending a whole truckload of food and necessities to Biloxi when Hurricane Camille hit.
Many days while he was still out on his sales route, he would eat wherever he was. He tried to never miss a Rotary meeting in Sumner. If he wasn’t at the Sumner meeting, he would visit the Charleston Rotary meeting. When he and Mama came to see us in Germany, he was thrilled that we had set him up to go to the local Rotary Club in Keiserslautern, Germany!
After long days of work, supper at home, any meeting he needed to attend, family and even a little TV time, his long day was not over! He sat in his recliner and “worked up” all the Wholesale daily purchases and sales, finishing all by hand — as this was before computers!
Serving as president of the Mississippi Wholesale Grocers Association gave us an extra fun time in Biloxi that year, even though we went for that event every summer. As president, we all were invited to Washington, D.C., for an event in honor of Senator John Stennis.
Brett Wholesale Grocery was a family business, yes; it was also a landmark on the Square in a small delta town, Sumner, Mississippi — home.
On August 7, 1992, Mama and Daddy were killed in a tragic car crash. The business had to be liquidated and closed. Kenny, Becky, Helen, Meadie Williams, Harvey Henderson and many other precious friends helped to close the business where our grandparents and parents had made a wonderful life for us.
Today, I am blessed and thankful, in the grip of God’s grace
— Rebecca LaNelle Brett Lacey
