Joshua Brockington, quiet taskmaster

WHEN Joshua Brockington Sr. cooked his famous soul food, he messed up every pot in the kitchen.

Guess who cleaned them up? His children, of course. After all, Joshua was a career Army man, a sergeant, and he was accustomed to being in command and having subordinates at his beck and call.

"He was a disciplinarian," said his daughter Sandra B. Gould. "Everything went through him. Mom would say, 'Go to your father.' "

Ah, but the meals were great. He was raised on a South Carolina farm and mastered such delights as collard greens grown in his own garden, as well as other Southern-style fare.

You could hardly expect him to do the dirty work.

Joshua Brockington Sr., a 23-year Army veteran, a 20-year employee of the old Budd Co., and a loyal churchman and Mason, died April 12. He was 91 and lived in West Oak Lane.

When Joshua wasn't off fighting in World War II or the Korean War, he was stationed in Germany and various bases in the U.S., and his family moved with him.

There were Fort Campbell, Ky.; Fort Polk, La.; and Fort Hood, Texas, as well as Wurzberg and Baumholder in Germany.

The family would have gone back to Germany with him when the Vietnam War broke out, but were restricted from doing so.

Joshua became a sergeant first class before his discharge in 1964. He then took the job at the Budd Co., finally calling it quits in 1984.

While in the Army, he and some buddies formed a quartet with him as the lead singer, and they actually cut a record. Sandra doesn't know what happened to it, but he never performed as a singer, despite his love of it.

"He was a very quiet, low-key man, introspective, but don't get him mad," Sandra said. "He was very disciplined. He taught his children how to get things done."

At home, Joshua insisted that everything be "white-glove clean."

"He would get up in the middle of the night to make sure everything was clean."

The grass had to be cut one inch from the curb, and whenever the family moved from a house, the floors had to be waxed and buffed to a fine gloss.

Joshua once stocked up on a load of books, and insisted that the children read to him, even kids' books. But also the Bible.

Joshua was born in Kingstree, S.C., to the Rev. Antroum and Rosa Scott Brockington. He graduated from high school there. He joined Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal Church, pastored by his father.

He married Estelle Louise Fulton in 1947. She died in 1987. In 1997, he married Amber Brockington.

In 1991, he joined Philippian Baptist Church, in Fern Rock, serving on the men's group and as a member of the kitchen crew.

He was a 33rd-degree Mason. He held the position of most-worshipful master, as well as various positions in Royal Arch, Knights Templar, Consistory, Shriners and Grand Potentate.

Besides his wife and daughter, he is survived by two other daughters, Betty Wagner and Pamela; two sons, Robert Broadie and Joshua Brockington Jr.; a stepson, Philip Smith; two sisters, the Rev. Daisy M. Fulton and Martha D. Chandler; 23 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; and one great-great-grandchild. He was predeceased by another daughter, Monticella Brockington-Battle, and a son, Johnnie Broadie.

Services: 11 a.m. tomorrow at Philippian Baptist Church, 5801 N. Broad St. Friends may call at 9 a.m. A Masonic service will begin at 10 a.m. Burial will be in Forest Hill Cemetery. *