The man of the hour couldn’t be there, but the smile on his son’s face told the story.

     Dan Brown, a Brookhaven School Board member and past principal of Alexander Junior High, was honored Thursday night with The ‘O’ Foundation’s annual VIP award.

     Brown, 72, fell ill this week, however, and was in the hospital Thursday night.

     In his absence, Brown’s son, Dan Brown III, took to the podium on his father’s behalf and relayed his appreciation and gratitude for the award. He described a deep of affection his father holds for Brookhaven.

     “He loves this community and the people of this community,” said the younger Brown, 45, now a resident of San Antonio, Texas.

     Brown’s son believes that his father’s love of the community made the VIP award that much more significant.

     “To know that you’re valued by the community you value is special,” Brown’s son said.

     In a letter enclosed in the program of Thursday’s event, the elder Brown expressed his thanks with his own words.

     “It was extremely humbling to learn … that I was selected to be the recipient of this prestigious award,” Brown wrote. “Thanks to God for choosing me as an instrument to do His will through my family, the church, and my community.”

     The younger Brown reported his father was beginning to feel better and hoped to return home soon.

     Though the night’s VIP couldn’t attend, what wasn’t absent Thursday night was a plethora of fond memories, amusing anecdotes and high words of praise for the accomplishments and friendship of Brown.

     Once Brown’s name surfaced for consideration, ‘O’ Foundation founder Rose Powell said the decision to name him the 2012 VIP was easy.

      “Generous” was the one word Powell selected to describe Brown, speaking after the banquet.

     Others had trouble being so succinct in their evaluation of Brown.

     “In trying to pare down what I have to say about Dan, it’s hard to be brief,” said Stan Patrick, who serves alongside Brown on the Brookhaven School Board.

     Patrick and Brown sit next to each other and often confer together during meetings.

     Brown’s a voice for reason and consensus on the board, Patrick said, and a “glass half-full” kind of guy.

     Brown’s service on the school board follows a career of about 40 years in education capped off by service as Alexander Junior High principal.

     Brown was principal when The Rev. Dr. Larry Jointer first met him.

     Speaking of that first meeting, Jointer recalled the size of Brown’s hands and how they enveloped his own when they were introduced and shook hands.

     Now, with years of friendship between them, Jointer knows why.

     “For all the things he did, and all the things he does, I guess God knew he was going to need some big hands,” Jointer said.

     Brown now serves as church administrator at Saint James. M.B. Church where Jointer is pastor.

     The night’s keynote speaker was Isaac Byrd Jr., of Byrd & Associates, a Jackson-based law firm.

     Byrd challenged his listeners to note the leaders of the past and enjoined the crowd to follow their examples.

     “We must ask ourselves, members of my community, who will bear the torch to the next generation?” he said.

     He praised a life of selfless regard for others, the kind of life many of Thursday’s speakers said Dan Brown has lived.

     Said Byrd, “You’ve got to have a life bigger than yourself.”