Everybody knows 'Biz' Brown

NORWALK — He's 93 years old and still going strong. Herbert "Biz" Brown was born in the old Norwalk hospital on West Main street in 1930. He and his parents lived in the building attached to their gas station a few doors down from the hospital. Back in those days there were gas stations on all four of those corners. Growing up Biz helped out at the station pumping gas. He also delivered the Cleveland Plain Dealer to the houses in the historic district of West Main Street and still remembers who lived in a lot of those houses. He graduated from Norwalk High School in 1948 with a girl named Barbara Bowen, who later became the famous "Miss Barbara" of the Romper Room kids show in Cleveland. One day in 1948 a Black man came to the station and Biz pumped his gas. The man asked Biz for a glass of water and gave Biz his cup. He told Biz he was headed to Cleveland to try out for the Indians. Biz asked him his name and said he would watch to see if he made the team. The guy's name was Satchel Paige and the rest is baseball history. "Wow," Biz's daughter, Karen Shellhammer, said. "Dad said he forgot to take his cup with him and I said it would probably be worth something today if they had saved it. "Dad also has a story of when Jesse Owens came to Norwalk to run a race." Biz said Paige came to Nowalk as a promotion. Paige attended a local baseball game at the VFW fields and ran the bases against Jack Edwards, brother of Major Leaguer Hank Edwards. Edwards touched the bases while Paige ran around the bases in the outfield. Paige won. Biz also talked about his love of Willard High School basketball and the late coach Bob Haas. Biz said in his later years Haas would come over to his table in the restaurant and talk about basketball. What a thrill, Biz said. Shellhammer went on to talk about her father. "Dad is now 93 and has had a good life," she said. "He still has a great memory. He moved to Willard in 1951 when he married my mom (the former Beverly Noble). We lost her three years ago. He still lives in the house they built back then." The two visited all 50 states, seeing all their state capitals. They had two children, Karen and Ken. "He still drives to church (Willard Grace Methodist Church) on Sunday morning and goes out to eat a couple times a month with the guys from church. My brother (Ken Brown) and I take him to the Willard football and basketball games. He keeps his brain sharp watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. He likes to do jigsaw puzzles and is interested in genealogy." He is a member of the Firelands Historical Society and attends their monthly meetings. He is also a 73-year member of the Norwalk Eagles and is the oldest member, joining when he was 20. The three of them got together recently and attended the Norwalk All-Schools Reunion at NHS where they shared memories with others who attended school here. "Everybody knows him," his daughter said. "He bowled for a long, long time. Active in the church. He goes to so many sporting events and worked at the car dealership here ... everybody knows him."