History of Detroit, a chronicle of its progress, its industries, its institutions, and the people of the fair City of the straits, / by Paul Leake ... [Vol. 3]

1080

HISTORY OF DETROIT

pression of his convictions, and none more than he enjoyed keen and
honorable opposition. * * * A more kindly and sympathetic heart
has seldom throbbed in human breast. There was nothing mean in his
composition, and although in conflict his blows may have been hard and
fast they were invariably upon his opponent's front. If the sun ever
went down on his enemy's wrath, the fault was not our friend's. Dr.
Brodie had well nigh reached the patriarchal three-score years and ten
when the summons came; but in spite of his years we will long remember his youthful heart. Seldom, indeed, does the heart remain so youthful in a body over which have passed the weight and experiences of so
many years. Up to the end he retained the heart of the impulsive, impressionable, ingenuous youth. I never saw a man whose thoughts, conversation and deportment so belied the years which weighed the body
down. He preferred the companionship of young men, and' young men
were in turn drawn to him. It was his delight to entertain them and
enter into their projects and aspirations, and nothing made him happier
than for the young man to make him his confident. His vivacity of
mind and the singular combination of the old and the young, of the man
and the boy, in his composition, drew to him a large circle of the younger
men in the profession, who were profited as well as entertained by his
social qualities. It will be many years before the memory of Dr. Brodie
is effaced, and in the years to come those who knew him in their youth
will cherish a kindly recollection of this unique old man. They will have
met very few in whom the elements were more pleasantly combined, and
none who took a more philosophical view of life."
Another appreciative estimate was that given by Leartus Counor in
his paper, the American Lancet and himself one of the most distinguished representatives of the medical profession in Detroit and Michigan. From this estimate it is possible to give only brief quotation: "He
was an especially happy man, inclined to look upon the bright side of
things; and that part of the world or its people that came into personal
contact with him he regarded as simply perfect. It must be said that
his personality is closely united for or against every medical movement made in Michigan during his entire life; and the same personality
is entwined in much of the action, on other than medical science, taken
by the American Medical Association. He will be remembered for his
strong personality, his great kindness to countless persons in and out
of the profession, his unswerving devotion to his profession and his tireless efforts in its behalf. He loved to promote his views by recourse to
the polemic arena, calmly accepting the result, be it for or against him.
He was firm in his devotion to his friends, and so made and retained
hosts of them. All in all, Dr. Brodie was a unique figure in the profession, a type of much of the material that rescued Michigan from the
dominion of the destructive malaria, cleared the forests and drained
the soil, and made it the servant of man. Personally we shall greatly
miss his cordial welcome and encouraging words of cheer."
The affectionate regard in which Dr. Brodie was held by his professional confreres and by his home community in general was significantly
shown on the occasion of the public memorial services held in his honor
and attended by many of the representative citizens of Detroit. On this
occasion were delivered appreciative addresses by leading members of
the medical profession and by others who had known and honored the
deceased physician. It is not necessary to enter into details concerning
this memorial service, since the very holding of the same offers abundant
testimony to the love and esteem in which Dr. Brodie was held in the
community that had long represented his home and been the stage of his
earnest and devoted labors as a friend of all humanity.