His children are grown and out on their own, but that didn't stop Marcia Brandhorst from honoring her 71-year-old father with a nomination for The Times and Democrat's Father of the Month contest.

"My daddy is always going for other people, whether it's his friends, family, children, grandchildren, and I just felt it was time that he got some recognition for it," the Neeses woman said. "He'll do without to give somebody else something, anybody that needs it.

"He was a father figure to anybody who needed it, and he just instilled good Christian character in anyone who was around. And he not only taught it -- he lived it."

Her father, Robert L. Addison Sr. of North, said he attributes his success as a father to his own dad.

"He was one that would lead," said Addison, who was named The T&D's November 2008 Father of the Month and, on Monday, was honored as the newspaper's Father of the Year from a field of 11 top dads. "He said, 'Let's go do so-and-so.' He wouldn't say, 'Go do so-and-so for me.'

"God has had his hand in that situation, I know he did, in finding two parents for us to be born to. ... They (my parents) were the same if you saw them today ... and if you saw them tomorrow. They believed in the right principles, and it stayed that way."

Addison has two children, Brandhorst, 44, and Lewis Jr., 39, four grandchildren, and has been married to his wife, Brenda, for 51 years.

"She's my greatest asset," Addison said of his wife.

Brenda Addison said her husband was a good daddy, and kids have always been drawn to him.

"Kids really love him. ... He's just got a way of attracting kids and having a good time with them," she said. "He really cares for his children. It might not have seemed that he did a lot of times, but he did have a lot of love and concern for them. He tried to set the right examples for them, leading a good, Christian life.

"(He has said) his one regret is he didn't take as much time with his children as he could have."

Addison said her husband always gave their children plenty of advice, "even if they didn't always want to hear it."

Brandhorst said her parents' doors were always open to those in need of guidance.

"He's always been there for us, me and my brother, as well as other kids he took in our house ... teaching them the same values he taught us," she said. "He was my Christian father, and he carried those traits right down to us. He taught us to always put God first in our life, and to do things the right way, and they will always turn out good."

While all of the lessons her father passed down are memorable, Brandhorst said perhaps the one that sticks out most in her mind is her father's commitment to church and instilling that commitment in his children. Her parents are members of Highland Baptist Church in Orangeburg.

"He brought us up in a Christian home and taught us early in life ... (to be in) church every time the doors were open," she said.

"He's just a loving, caring person, always out for everybody else, not himself -- very selfless. I get mad at him sometimes -- I say, 'Daddy, it's time for you to enjoy life,' but he can't. That's the way he is."

Addison said his advice for other fathers is simple.

"Don't always take for granted that you will have another chance to do something with (your children)," he said. "Be there to answer their questions when they ask, and correct them when they're wrong, and more or less lead them in the right direction. ... Stay involved and listen when they talk. And give discipline when it needs to be done, and in the right way."

Brenda Addison had her own words of advice for parents.

"Give them (your children) plenty of love and attention," she said. "A lot of times, you have to put off doing something that you feel like is necessary to give them some time they really need. I think the main thing is giving them lots of love and attention, and teaching them about God's love. If we put God first, everything else is going to fall into place."

In addition to their two biological children, the Addisons have unofficially taken in at least a half-dozen children through the years.

"I guess it was just a heartfelt thing," Robert Addison said. "I saw a need, and I just tried to supply that need, and treat them like I treat my own kids, just to help them. They would come around, and we would get to know them. ... They didn't have a home environment, and they were good children who needed some leadership, and I just felt a need to do it, my wife and I both did.

"Some didn't stay very long, but at least we got them started in the right direction. Some of them just needed the encouragement to do the right thing, and to do the right things at home."

Brandhorst said she was surprised at her father being named The T&D's top dad.

"I mean, I wanted, deep down I hoped, he would (win), but I'm sure all the fathers in there deserved it," she said. "I was really proud of him, proud to call him my daddy.

"I love him very much, and he's the best daddy in the world. ... God couldn't have given me a better daddy than him."

Brenda Addison said she often jokes with her husband that 51 years is "an awful long time to put up with one man."

"But ... I do love him very much, and I guess you could say he was my dream man," she said. "If he wasn't, I wouldn't have been able to live with him that long.

"I will always be there for him. I'm just proud of him."

Robert Addison is quick to say he hasn't always been the perfect father.

"If I had my time to go back over, was my time perfect? No. But hindsight is 20/20," he said. "We had ... to raise them and work and provide for them, but we were always there when they needed us.

"I certainly didn't expect this. Marcia ... she thought enough of me to nominate me, and I thank her for it."

T&D Features Editor Wendy Jeffcoat Crider can be reached by e-mail at wjeffcoat@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5546. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

You must be logged in to comment.