Bright Immanuel Sink

After a courageous battle with illness, Bright Immanuel Sink, 96, of Brighten Drive, Linwood, died peacefully in his sleep at the Sticht Center of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem. The funeral and celebration of Bright Sink's life will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday at Linwood United Methodist Church by the Revs. Cindy Arnold, Lynn Caldwell and Benny Clodfelter. Mr. Sink was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Annie Lee Fitzgerald Sink; his father, John Andrew Sink, and mother, Effie Pearl Lopp Sink; three brothers, Norman Clyde Sink, Edgar Paul Sink and David William Sink; three sisters, Nellie Sink Koontz, Margaret Sink Trantham Hoover and Cornelia Sink Zimmerman; and an infant sister. "Bright I.," as he often called himself, was born Dec. 9, 1909, in Lexington. The fifth of 11 children, he reminisced colorfully of his lean but happy childhood days growing up on West Sixth Avenue. He was one of the few left who remembered the clangor of church bells announcing the end of World War I. A painfully shy man for much of his life, he nonetheless struck out for adventure on two trips over three years to California during the Great Depression, somehow managing to descend the Colorado Rockies without brakes. His stories were rich and hilarious. He served his country faithfully in the Army's Company D461 in World War II in Europe, specifically in France. Our father was a true character, entertaining folks with his outrageous comments, audacious humor and a straight-ahead approach to life. His tenacity helped him through many dark periods of illness, his wife Annie Lee's unexpected death in 1983 and his battle with macular degeneration. A self-proclaimed "Jack of All Trades," he was a cookware salesman, a garage mechanic, a weather stripper and a chicken farmer. But in carpentry and building houses he found his true calling. In his spare time he loved hitting golf balls in the pasture, making homemade ice cream, watering his abundant tomato plants and mowing on his beloved riding lawn tractor. Daddy had an unstoppable energy and an intense love of life. Hungry for knowledge, he devoured encyclopedias and read and studied the Bible, often asking difficult questions about faith. Most of all, he will be remembered for his old-time swinging stride style of piano playing, which never stopped, even in his blindness. He was a natural talent and highly gifted musician, and nobody could play the piano quite like Bright Sink. He loved his family, especially his late wife, whose voice he remembered as so beautiful. Without recognizing his real worth while alive, he enriched and inspired the lives of so many people. A faithful member of Linwood United Methodist Church, he was an outspoken "Roosevelt Democrat" who believed we have an obligation to help those who cannot help themselves. He was an avid supporter of women's rights and his son, Steve, remembers him as the staunchest supporter of civil rights. These convictions and his fierce honesty and courage in the face of suffering and "death-the biggest mystery of all," as he called it, will leave their indelible mark on those who loved him, long after his wonderful music has faded. Left to mourn his passing and to celebrate his life are his two sons, Stephen Charles Sink and his wife, Teresa Jones Sink, of Linwood, and Thomas Wesley Sink and his friend, Tammie Dunn, of Lexington; his daughter, Barbara Ann Lister-Sink of Pfafftown; his grandson, Adrian Marcus Sink of Linwood, and his granddaughter, Chloe Fitzgerald Plumb of Chapel Hill; his brother, Fred Hale Sink and his wife, Virginia Barnes Sink, of Lexington; two sisters, Jessie Sink Jones of Winston-Salem and Ruth Sink Corn and her husband, Clarence Charles Corn, of Lexington; 17 nieces and nephews; 22 great-nieces and great-nephews; his loyal friend, Pearl Haire of Lexington; and his beloved cat, Tiger. The Sink family wishes to extend very special thanks to the nurses at the Sticht Center for their loving-kindness. Thanks also to all the generous-hearted folk of Linwood and Lexington who, over the years, have taken a moment to visit, to listen and to make our father's life happier, and to all the daily callers to the WLXN 1440 Birthday Club Daddy faithfully supported. In the end, it is the small, daily kindnesses that give our lives such richness. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Davidson Funeral Home in Lexington. Memorials may be made to Linwood United Methodist Church.