Michael Brink had given so much of himself to his friends over the years that many felt there was no way they could repay him. So when neighbor and friend Chip Matthews came up with a grand plan to restore Brink’s 1955 Willys Jeepster, everybody he talked to got on board.
“I can’t even tell you how many people have put time into this project,” he said of the restoration. “Everybody wanted to be a part of it because they know how much he’d love it.”
David Alley, a friend of nearly 40 years, said the truck restoration project was a no-brainer for him, even though he lives in Knoxville. He knew there was still some way he could help.
“You wanted to get on board because you wanted to share with him,” Alley said of Brink. “He was the first one who would share with others, so you just wanted to do something for him.”
For the better part of six months, dozens and dozens of people contributed to the project. Last week, everything was complete. But his friends’ excitement turned to profound sadness when they realized Brink wouldn’t get to see his beloved truck refinished.
“I held his hand and told him about it,” Matthews said. “I told him to imagine his 16-year-old son going on his first date in that truck. His eyes rolled and I knew he heard me.”
Brink had been diagnosed with a type of soft-tissue cancer and just when it appeared he had beaten it, the cancer returned, said his wife, Deborah McGarry Brink.
Michael Julian Brink, of Atlanta, died Sunday from complications of cancer. He was 57.
A funeral Mass is planned for 2 p.m. on Wednesday at the Cathedral of Christ the King. His body will be cremated following the service. H.M. Patterson & Son, Spring Hill is in charge of arrangements.
At the time of his death, Brink was a partner at Wellspring Associates, a boutique wealth planning and consulting firm with offices in Atlanta. When he wasn’t engrossed in clients’ estate planning, Brink was fully engaged in the lives of his friends.
“I never had a brother, but he was a brother to me,” said David Alley, a friend of nearly 40 years. “He would say, ‘Hey, let’s do this.’ And we’d say, ‘Yeah, that sounds good Mike.’ But he’d be the one to really get it done. He was a dreamer who could see it finished before it was done.”
A native of Knoxville and a graduate of East Tennessee State, Brink was proud of his “Rocky Top roots,” his wife said.
“I had to write something recently about him,” she said. “And I wrote that there was never a man more positive, more determined, more trustworthy and more forgiving in every aspect of his life than he was. He never let anything stand in his way and particularly in this last bout with cancer, during which he had an incredible attitude.”
In addition to his wife, Brink is survived by his son, Nicholas McGarry Brink of Atlanta; brothers Hank Brink, John Brink, James Brink, David Brink, Stephen Brink and Gregory Brink; sisters Kathleen Bullock and Barbara Ambrose; and step-mother Orpha Brink.
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