Marble Collegiate Church (Norman Vincent Peels church) in NYC. Brandon ROSS Abernathy, AIDS Activist, 3/21/58-11/14/01 and Rev. Anne Bennefield who married us Dec. 18, 1988. Brandon Ross Abernathy was born on March 21,1958. He died form AIDS related causes on November 14, 2001. He lived in Atlanta, GA for 17 years with his longtime partner, Cleve Seay. Brandon was once married to Rachel Holland for 10 years. He and Rachel eventually divorced. Brandon and Cleve owned and managed A Cherubs Attic, an antique market in Atlanta for several years until Brandons health deteriorated and they eventually co-founded Absolute Wellness, the Brandon Ross Community Center with colleague, Dr. Sherry Meltz and Jim Faulkner in 1999. The BRAC Center is a non-profit holistic center which provides alternative therapies such as chiropratic care, reike, massage therapy, physical and mental rehabilitation, and support groups FREE to metro Atlantans living with HIV/ AIDS. Brandon, Cleve and Dr. Meltz and many others volunteers worked to serve as many 2500 clients in the first year of operation of the BRAC Center. Brandon raised over a million dollars as spokesperson and frontman for the Center. He traveled to Puerto Rico and worked with children with HIV/AIDS, he attended and spoke at the 1999 World AIDS Conferrence in Durban, South Africa. He traveled to Cuba with acclaimed photo-jounalist, Bryan Meltz and documented the HIV/AIDS population living conditions. He wrote but never published three books on surviving with HIV. He spoke at countless seminars and before thousands of people offering them hope and information on how to not only survve AIDS but thrive in their lives. He was an inspiration to thousands living with the disease. He died peacefully in Atlanta on November 14, 2001. He left behind his loving partner, Cleve Seay, his mother and father, his brother Bobby, his sister, a neice and nephew and his Grandmother Lela Stiger. He was a pioneer and longtime AIDS survivor. He was FEARLESS in fighting his disease and providing others with the strength and courage to contine on. He is missed by me and countless others. Rest in Peace, my love. Awards + Enter awards
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 17:37:08 +0000