Luther "Luke" Lee Brewer

Each person makes an imprint. Sometimes, the ink of their life expands and extends, and they leave colors in other notebooks. Luther Lee Brewer was a man of beautiful colors. He brought beauty to many lives.

Luther was born March 9, 1934, in Columbia (“Hub”), Mississippi, as the fifth child of Luther and Ollie Brewer, who preceded him in death. He is survived by his six children - Jeffery Keith Brewer, Michael Levell Brewer, Calvin Lamont Brewer, Luther Tyrell Brewer, Dana Faye Brewer, Gregory Orin Brewer, brother Booker Brewer, and sister Essie Mae Solomon.

Luther was raised on a farm and learned to appreciate hard work. He was a hunter and fisherman, and boy, was he good at it. His children can tell you stories about how, as city kids, they had to learn to skin rabbits, gut and scale fish, and deplume pheasants.

Luther loved his family, especially his brothers and sisters - Rayphe, Mattie, Roshel, Booker, Essie, Ernest, and Otho. He loved his cousins, especially Edward Brewer. He loved his brothers- and sisters-in-law like they were his very own brothers and sisters. They loved him back. Luther never met a stranger.

Like many others from the South, Luther made the pilgrimage west and settled in California in 1957. That same year, he met and married the love of his life, Mary Frances Abram. Five handsome sons and one beautiful daughter were born to that union.

Luther worked hard to support his family, and he quickly rose through the ranks in the warehouse of Glidden Paint Company, where he worked for more than 40 years. He started as a laborer and was promoted to forklift driver. Eventually, Luther became a foreman – a job he enjoyed doing.

Luther’s hard work paid off, and he and Frances were able to buy a house in East Oakland in the 60s, at a time when segregation and racial tensions were running high. He and Frances gave their children a place they could call home. Luther taught his children to have self-respect and pride and to respect their property and that of others – a lesson that stuck with his children.

Many people will remember the house on 74th Avenue in Oakland, where family and friends gathered. Many neighborhood kids hung out there, and Luther always treated them like sons and daughters. He was well-respected in the community. He wasn’t a perfect man, but he was a good man.

Luther enjoyed being with his brothers-in-law and others, playing dominoes, and spending time with people. He took his family on vacations to Clear Lake, Disneyland, Yosemite, and many other places. He enjoyed traveling and appreciated Jehovah’s creation.

Luther was a fierce protector of his family. You weren’t going to mess with his wife or his kids. He was as strong as an ox but gentle with his children and grandchildren. He often greeted grandchildren with, “How is PaPa’s baby?” or nieces, young and old, with, “How is my baby?”

Always ready with a funny saying, Luther was always smiling and laughing. On one family trip, his son Luther “Tyrell” was filming him, and he looked toward the camera and said in a high-pitched voice, “Am I pretty?”

In the 1980s, Luther began to study the Bible with Jehovah’s Witnesses. He had attended other churches before but realized he had found the truth. Luther wanted to draw closer to his Heavenly Father, so he dedicated his life to Jehovah God and was baptized as an ordained minister, one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, on June 1, 1985. He took a courageous stand because this was not a popular decision among some of his family and friends.

Luther experienced some difficulties in his life, and his marriage to the love of his life ended in divorce. Though he spent some years away from the congregation, he never lost sight of the fact that strengthening his relationship with Jehovah God was what he needed to do to be happy. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Luther worked hard to repair his relationship with God.

During one conversation with his daughter, Luther expressed that he wanted to reunite his family by serving Jehovah, and he knew he had to set an example for his sons. He said he wanted his whole family back united, including Frances, the love of his life. With tears streaming down his face, he asked Dana if she thought he was too late. She assured him that Jehovah reads hearts and does not judge harshly, even if men tend to. She told him he was doing great, attending meetings again and talking to others about his faith. Luther cried some more and then smiled.

Luther had stared down prostate cancer in the 1990s. He had been insulin-dependent for many years due to Type 2 Diabetes. He was a little heavier than he should have been. But Luther was strong. However, in the fall of 2023, he was diagnosed with small cell carcinoma of the bladder. The doctors were hopeful that he would respond well to the treatment. Despite his various health issues, he remained strong and maintained a positive outlook. Luther shared with the doctors and others who treated him that he wasn’t afraid to die because he knew that Jehovah would remember him and bring him back to life in the restored earthly paradise. But, true to his nature, he fought with everything he had.

To everyone’s surprise, the cancer came back with a vengeance, and Luther’s health quickly declined. On June 28, 2024, Luther calmly and peacefully took his last breath.

His family was there. He was not alone.

We will miss you, Daddy, but we know we will see you again soon. Jehovah promised, and he cannot lie.

Titus 1:2 “based on a hope of the everlasting life that God, who cannot lie, promised long ago;”

Isaiah 25:8: “He will swallow up death forever, And the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will wipe away the tears from all faces. The reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, For Jehovah himself has spoken it.”