William Everett Brines

William Everett Brines, known as Bill, served in the Navy during WWII, was a salesman and lumberman. Born 23 Apr 1927 in Detroit, Wayne County Michigan he was the oldest of two boys to Everett Groff Brines 1900-1995, an automaker and his wife Katherine Florence Stillwell 1905-1979. Bill had a natural wit and he was good with people. He was a leader. "He was athletic. He could hit anything with a baseball," his brother, Jim Brines recalled. "He loved to play sports and watch sports." He played basketball and baseball for the Calvary UB Church in Detroit, Michigan and his father helped coach the teams.

He was 17 when he graduated from Cooley High School in Detroit. In 1944 Bill had his first year of college paid for on a basketball scholarship to Albion College in central Michigan. He took sports, teaching and business. However at this time World War II took center stage. He didn't want to be drafted in the regular army so he went to the Air Force to be a pilot but he had a spot on his lung due to a previous bout with pneumonia. "The Navy said he had long fingers so they made him a dentist," Jim said. He trained at the newly constructed Farragut Naval Training Station in Farragut, Idaho. As a Navy Corpsman - Pharmacist mate - Bill made false teeth, fillings and extractions. Everything a dentist would do. At the time Farragut was the second-largest training center in the world (behind Naval Station Great Lakes). Over 293,000 sailors received basic training at Farragut during its 30 months of existence. The last recruit graduated in March 1945.

Bill recalled many of the sailors were flown into his base with combat injuries. He said it was sobering to try to help sailors who had no limbs and were trying to get their life back. He reportedly helped fix their teeth as training.

Bill was expecting to be shipped out to a ship in the Pacific but the war was over. He was transferred to the Naval Air Station Grosse Ile, a Naval air station located on the southern tip of Grosse Ile, Michigan near Detroit. He served another year. "Bill said he would go up with the pilots in their planes and fly around the football games and listen to them on the radio," Jim said. It was good post-war duty.

After the war he discovered there was a seven year waiting period to get into dental school to become a dentist. "He didn't want to wait for that so he decided to take teaching because of the physical education background," Jim said. He took business and taught physical education as a sideline. While in college he was a member of Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and YMCA, basketball and track.

He married fellow Albion student Mary Ann Taylor on 19 Aug 1948 in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. He graduated from Albion College in 1950 and got a job in Grand Rapids, Michigan. His father-in-law was selling Fords and sold Bill a 1950 Ford Coupe. Bill ended up being the top Ford Salesman. In 1951 he was listed as a salesman for Universal Car and Service in Grand Rapids. By 1954 he changed sales jobs to lumber at Plywood Grand Rapids Company. He made management there so they decided to make him in charge of the Traverse City branch.

"His wife knew 7 languages and she was working as a translator for Lear Corporation that made auto pilots for people in South America. Bill got the job to be manager of the Plywood Grand Rapids Traverse City branch in Traverse City, Michigan up at the top of the state where there was a lot of snow," Jim said.

By 1956 he used his contacts and got an opportunity to work for Payne Lumber in Kansas City, MO. They were building some of the first prefabricated dormitories in the country. "They were using nail guns before everyone started using them. It was a key company, one of the top lumber companies in the country," Jim said. At this time Mary Ann and Bill had a son William Taylor Brines.

In 1965 at the age of 38 Mary Ann Brines discovered she had breast cancer. They decided to move to warmer weather in Arizona. She survived and became the City Clerk for the City of Paradise Valley, Arizona. She was well liked, respected with a wonderful caring personality. Over the years she worked her way up to Assistant Town Manager. Bill went to work with the National Housing Industries in Arizona. They laid out the subdivisions, bought the land and put the sidewalks in and the utilities up to the property line. Then they would sell them to other housing builders. He went to work for Evan McFarland Company and then Grand Lumber Company, a family owned business on Grand Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona.

"He put some money together from his inheritance from his father-in-law that died and bought part of Prime Lumber Wholesale. He was a major partner," Jim said. He was on the board of Arizona Lumbermen Association that planned how much federal timber was to be cut in Arizona and the country for the next year. "He could see the industry decline. He sold it to his partners and retired from the business. He couldn't work for two years in the wood business as a part of a non-compete contract he signed with them," Jim said. That's when he decided to get into tile as a broker. He had suppliers and subcontractors who would do the work for new tile installation jobs. When his non-compete was up he began to work in wood again. He sold high end entryway doors with imported wood. He was selfemployed. He sold the business and retired the last time.

In 1990 the cancer returned and took Mary Ann. He remarried a woman named Tomlyn Reichardt. They moved from Paradise Valley, Arizona to Cave Creek about 1997. He also had a condo on the golf course in Flagstaff, Arizona. "It was too cold so they decided to move to Prescott, Arizona," Jim recalled. They lived in Prescott for more than a decade before he passed away April 23, 2015 on his 88th birthday.

Sources: US Census Records, US City Directories, School yearbooks, Michigan Marriage Record, Interview with brother James Richard Brines, Interview with Bill Brines & Jonathon Brines' memory