ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 1996 TAG: 9606090053
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CHRISTINA NUCKOLS STAFF WRITER
BRIAN SOWERS was a dynamic young man dedicated to helping others. A mysterious illness killed Brian Thursday, leading those who knew him to ask, "why?''
Rehab workers were having trouble coaxing the veteran out of his wheelchair until Brian Sowers came along.
"Listen, my Paw Paw was in World War II, and you guys are heroes to me," Brian said. "But if you don't get up and try, you won't be like my grandfather, and you won't be a hero to me."
Jack Lipscomb told that story to his minister this week as they sat beside the hospital bed where Brian - Lipscomb's grandson - lay, unable to speak. On the wall nearby, Lipscomb had hung a photograph of the Roanoke teen-ager being awarded a pin for performing 500 hours of volunteer service at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem.
When Brian was first admitted to Community Hospital on May 13, he had a fever of 106.4, but the 17-year-old was determined to be out in time to play with his church's youth volleyball team that weekend. He never made it.
His condition worsened until he was too sick to communicate with his family, even his beloved grandfather. On Wednesday, he was conscious, squeezing the hands of loved ones gathered around his bed. Doctors said he was getting better. Late Thursday afternoon, he died.
Adding to his family's grief is the fact that no one can explain why the outgoing, athletic teen-ager is gone. His illness remains undiagnosed, although Community Hospital officials said it was apparently related to an infection. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta are testing blood samples, but spokesman Bob Howard said the procedures take a minimum of two weeks.
A junior at Patrick Henry High School, Brian was as active in the community as he was at school.
"I could be an A student if I had more time, I think," he told The Roanoke Times in a June 1994 interview. "The volunteer stuff is important to me. There are a lot of things I'd still like to try, but there's only so much time."
He always made time for others.
"Brian was the kind of guy, if you needed help, he'd just jump in and do it," said the Rev. Charles Hoffler, who sat at Brian's bedside with the boy's grandfather this week.
The minister recalled a winter day when he was shoveling snow in front of the Waverly Place Baptist Church, where Brian and his family are members. Brian passed by and stopped to help, promising to return with the next snowfall.
Brian volunteered frequently for church and community projects, but his work at the veterans' hospital was particularly important because it was a family affair. Jack Lipscomb was a regular visitor on Mondays, when birthday parties were held for patients. He'd bring along his wife, Barbara, their daughter Vanessa - Brian's mother - and Brian.
"The whole clan came and volunteered," volunteer services coordinator Sue Patterson said. "They were very, very motivated."
"He was a very charismatic young man," Betty Watts recalled. "He was intelligent, a go-getter."
Brian worked with Watts in the kinesiotherapy department, where patients learn to walk again after debilitating injuries or illness. Brian often jumped around, swatting at a punching bag, to encourage the veterans, some of them more than 100 years old.
"Anything they asked him to do, he would do," Watts said. And they would do anything for him, too, she added, recalling his challenge to the man who was reluctant to begin therapy.
"That man did walk," she said. "He did it because of Brian."
Brian talked with the newspaper about the incident two years ago.
"It showed me you can do anything if you try hard enough," he said. "I have helped people who really didn't want help, and it's always turned out good."
Brian was 13 when he started volunteering at the hospital. He spent so much time there he was named Virginia's Volunteer of the Year in 1994 by the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Lipscomb, an active member of the Vinton VFW, Post 4522, was delighted.
"He and his grandfather are probably as close as any two people can be," said Gaylon Spradlin, commander of the VFW post.
"The grandfather, it's really hammered him hard," said Vinton Police Chief R.R. Foutz, a friend of the family. "There was a very, very close relationship between those two."
"He's almost like my Dad," Brian said of his grandfather during his 1994 interview. "We race with each other to see who volunteers more, but we work together, too."
The Sowers family has no hospitalization insurance, and Brian's illness has added to medical bills already piling up from earlier this year when his father, Bill, underwent a triple bypass heart operation.
In response to the Sowerses' financial needs, a fund-raising committee has been established. Contributions can be made through NationsBank at Pollard Street and Lee Avenue in downtown Vinton.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Sowers. color. KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB