Nanaimo family pays glowing tribute to late father with Christmas display
To appreciate Dianne Brown’s Christmas present, we need to go back to her Christmas pasts, after meeting her husband Rohn Brown.
“We went on one date,” Dianne smiles. “And we never left.”
Early on, Rohn revealed he was the youngest of 13 children, and his Christmas gifts were always hand-me-downs that had been passed through all his siblings.
“By the time it got to [Rohn] it was always broken,” Dianne says.
So Rohn tried to make their first Christmas together special, beginning with a big tree.
“And the doggone thing fell down three times,” Dianne recalls with a laugh, “All the decorations broke!”
Christmas could only go up from there, and their daughter Kim MacGillivray says her dad made sure it did.
“From the moment Christmas ended,” Kim smiles. “That’s when his search would begin for [decorations] for the following year.”
Months before the holiday season, Rohn would start planning designs and constructing characters before transforming their home into to a popular seasonal spectacle.
“It looked like an airport,” Kim says. “It illuminated the road.”
“You almost had to wear sunglasses,” Dianne recalls. “It was so bright!”
While some might tease Rohn for being like Clark Griswold from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, they would also be quick to credit him for being like Kris Kringle from the North Pole, volunteering his time to dress in a Santa costume to visit care homes and community groups.
“The more joy he saw in people the more his heart felt full,” Kim smiles.
Which is why after the accident this spring, after they were told Rohn wouldn’t make it, the Brown family felt lost.
“How do you come back from that?” Kim asks, fighting back tears.
How do you celebrate the holiday season without the father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and husband of 40 years who made every Christmas so magical?
“I remember it was the day we took him off life-support,” Dianne says. “I turned to the kids and said, ‘We have to do the decorations for dad this year.”
So they started unpacking some of his lights and began putting out a few of his decorations in the front yard.
“If it means we can have just a little bit of him with us this year,” Kim says, after setting up illuminated penguins and candy canes. “Then that’s what we’re going to do.”
Although the display is not as elaborate as before, they say Rohn’s work was never really about the quantity of the seasonal stuff on display. It was always about the quality of happy memories it inspired for their family and neighbours.
“It’s not about the gifts and it’s not about rushing around here and there,” Kim says. “It’s about who is present in your life right now. Enjoy that. Embrace that.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.