BY IRIS B. HOLTON
Sentinel City Editor
Rev. Abraham Brown died in September 2010, at the age of 83. On Tuesday, April 9th, U. S. Congresswoman Kathy Castor and members of the U. S. Postal Service will rename the East Tampa Post Office in his honor. The dedication ceremony will take place at 10 a.m.
Congresswoman Castor fought to keep the Produce Station, 2810 E. Hillsborough Avenue, from closing in last summer. After being successful in that endeavor, Congresswoman Castor submitted a bill in the U. S. House and the U. S. Senate to rename the building in honor of the late Rev. Brown. President Barack Obama signed the bill last year.
A Tampa native, Rev. Brown graduated from Middleton High School, and continued his education at Florida A & M University. Following graduation, Rev. Brown returned to Middleton High School, and taught classes. He also served as an assistant football coach and eventually became the Head Coach at Blake High School. Rev. Brown retired as an educator while assigned to Chamberlain High School as Dean of Boys.
In the mid 1970s, Rev. Brown launched a program to visit prisons and to offer help to ex-offenders. As the Prison Crusade grew, Rev. Brown provided transportation to various prisons in the state so that family members could visit. The organization was later renamed “Abe Brown Ministries.”
He also served as the Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of College Hill for several years.
Early last year, the U. S. Postal Service announced plans to close more than 3,700 postal locations throughout the country. The Produce Station on East Hillsborough Avenue was on that list, but an outcry from the community successfully lobbied to keep it open.
