Following my two older sisters, I was privileged to go through the youth group at Palm Beach Lakes with Ron and Elizabeth Brackett as the coordinators. It seems like eons ago, but the impact they made on so many lives has been immeasurable over the years.
I remember as a Freshman and Sophomore that Ron would often take me home after youth activities. I remember one night after a devotional that Ron was taking me home in his Honda Civic and we began talking about my plans to be a preacher. The conversation continued long after arriving at my house, and we must have sat in my driveway for at least 15-20 minutes as Ron encouraged me and challenged me to give my all in working for the Lord. I appreciated our conversation so much that night.
The first time I ever went to Freed-Hardeman University to check it out as a prospective student was with Ron Brackett on a “College Trip.” (I had been on campus when I was about 8 years old, but I wasn’t exactly looking for a college at that point.) I remember Ron and Elizabeth driving us up there in their two vehicles and introducing us to the Freed-Hardeman campus. (I also remember Ron letting me drive his Honda while we were stuck in construction traffic near Gainesville, while he took a nap.)
In the summer of 1996, while I was working my third summer as an intern at PBL, Ron and I (along with Sue Shelt and Linda Studer) took the youth group on its first-ever mission trip to Lynchburg, Virginia. What an incredible experience that was! (Sue has a fond brake-slamming memory of that trip.) Ron was masterful with teenagers and put together a great trip. Of course, no memory of Ron back then would be complete without his Honda Civic. It was on that trip, too. My little sister, Cathy, went on that mission trip, and she was the only one of the four girls on that trip who had any inkling how to drive a manual transmission (“inkling” might be overstating it a bit). She was in charge of driving the girls back and forth to their host’s home each day. It’s a wonder the Civic ever made it back to Florida.
I was privileged to be in his youth group, to learn from him, to follow him as the Youth Director and to work side-by-side with him at Palm Beach Lakes for the last eleven years and three summers. He has impacted lives in so many ways, including mine for over 20 years.