FAIR OAKS, CA (MPG) - The mark of any man or woman can be measured by the impact he or she leaves behind in the lives of other people. In the case of Barry Price Brown of Fair Oaks, that number can be measured in the hundreds or even thousands.

Brown, a native of Nevada City, recently passed away at the age of 90. He leaves behind his wife Eleanor, his three sons, his daughters-in-law and five precious granddaughters. However, he also leaves behind a legacy and list of accomplishments that will be hard for anyone to top.

“Barry was the type of man who operated under the belief that if you had a job to do, you did it well and you got it finished,” Eleanor Brown told the Messenger Publishing Group (MPG). “He had a type of commitment that made him special. He inspired others to adopt the same type of commitment, no matter what the project.”

The average adult works a 30-year career and may also help to raise a family before enjoying a well-deserved retirement. That word didn’t fit Brown. He didn’t retire. He didn’t understand the word. He simply chose to move onto the next big challenge in his life after accomplishing all he could in the previous challenge. No challenge was ever too big.

“Barry was a force of nature,” Fair Oaks businessman Keith Walter told MPG. “I first met Barry a decade ago. He was 80. I quickly learned he had more energy and drive than most people in their 20s.”

That sentiment was shared by the publisher of MPG, Paul Scholl.

“Barry was one of the very first people to encourage me when I first started the American River Messenger many years ago. He was a constant source of encouragement over the years,” Scholl confided after he politely assigned this tribute. “At every event Barry would make it a point to greet me and offer his support. He also knew that if he ever had to get a story covered or something special in the newspaper for any of his causes it only took one phone call to make it happen.”

Listening to the numerous descriptions of Brown by the people who knew him best, another person came to mind.

“He wanted you to be great,” Larry Tesler said. “He wanted you to create something that was great. He was going to make you do that.”

Tesler was serving as the Chief Scientist at Apple Computers when he described the impact that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had on his life. But, it seems, the same words and phrases could have just as easily applied to Barry Brown.

“Barry Brown Taught Us to ‘Look Over the Edge,’” is only one of the headlines about the man that you will find today on the Fair Oaks Village Enhancement Committee (FOVEC) website. It’s an organization that he, not surprisingly, helped to get off the ground. The mission of the FOVEC is to “make Fair Oaks Village a better place to live and visit through projects and events by working with local businesses, property owners and other stakeholders,” according to the committee’s website.

Brown, a retired irrigation engineer, worked with a variety of state and federal agencies. He started with the CA Department of Water Resources before moving to the CA Energy Commission and, eventually, the Federal Land Bank. When he wasn’t serving as engineer on numerous California and federal water projects, he switched hats to serve the National Guard. That was another career that lasted for 27-years. He rose to the rank of Colonel before retirement. But Brown didn’t ever retire. He just moved onto a new challenge.

As it turns out, he was just getting started.

Brown would go on to become the longest-serving director on the Fair Oaks Water District Board of Directors. He served for 25 years. But he didn’t stop there. From zoning commissions to the Fair Oaks Foundation For Leisure and the Arts to the Fair Oaks Historical Society, Brown kept his fingerprints firmly set in the community.

His work included the community effort to preserve the Fair Oaks' portion of the American River Bluffs. The purchase of that 4.5 acres of property, referred to as the Fair Oaks Bluff, took place following a long fundraising campaign conducted by a grassroots group of community leaders who billed themselves as Citizens to Save the Bluff. Brown served as the co-chair for the effort.

Ralph Carhart is the Director at the Fair Oaks Parks and Recreation District and worked closely with Brown on the bluff preservation effort and several other projects.

“Barry was one of the six key people who served on the Bluff Donor Commission,” Carhart recalled. “He came along when we were following through with the commitment to honor those who had donated money to this effort. Some of those contributions were very large.”

The effort would not only lead to the preservation of the open space, but the construction of the American River Parkway Donor Plaza. It’s a 30 square-foot plaza complete with a spiraling walkway made up of engraved bricks. River rocks gathered from the American River line the walkway.

“We had a vision and we just assumed we'd see it one day,” Barry told the Fair Oaks Patch blog in 2011.

It would be one of many reminders that Brown would leave behind. He would later take part in, and raise money for, the effort to construct the Fair Oaks Founder’s Monument. That monument was championed by Karyn Barthmore, then Honorary Mayor for the Chamber of Commerce. It tells the long and storied history of the Fair Oaks community.

Although Brown was active in several organizations and projects, it’s his work with FOVEC that may result in lasting recognition. He would help identify funding sources that led to the Fair Oaks Streetscape Construction Project completed in 2013. The project resulted in new sidewalks, curbs, paved walking paths, street light improvements, parking and landscaping in many areas of the Fair Oaks Village.

“Barry approached projects with an engineer’s perspective,” Carhart said. “Anything he did was done to perfection.”

Former Sacramento County Supervisor Susan Peters highlighted the work of FOVEC and others for following the project through to completion.

“This is a positive step towards the shared vision to increase the village’s viability as a thriving business district that attracts more local and regional shoppers,” Peters told MPG.

Brown’s community efforts will live on for decades to come.

“Barry was an outdoor person who had an indoor job,” Eleanor Brown said. “He never stopped working in the community or in his own backyard. He was the type of person who would dig up a fruit tree to move it two feet to the left or right to give it a better spot.”

Those who knew and worked with Brown through the decades find it tough to put into words what exactly made him special. They only know that he will be missed.

“Fair Oaks tends to attract people who come here for what the community offers,” Walter said. “Our community would be a different place today without the influence and guidance of Barry Brown.”