Hometown Brandon - Summer 2015

Esther said, “Right after we moved to
Brandon, I took bridge lessons, since all
the women in Brandon played bridge. I’ve
enjoyed bridge ever since, and I have even
taught bridge classes. I am still in a bridge club,
and I play online bridge almost every day.”
The family enjoys hearing stories about
how Dr. Mitchell delivered their babies,
stitched their cuts, and made house calls.
Brandon High School football players
remember him as the team doctor. When
Dr. Mitchell died suddenly in 1966 at the age
of 41, Esther was left with five children, ages
five to 17. She had worked until Dr. Mitchell
opened his medical practice in Brandon. After
his death, she went back to work teaching
piano and organ at home and then was
employed by the Rankin Medical Center
and the U. S. Veteran’s Administration. One
morning on her way to work she saw that Dr.
Mitchell’s office, which she had sold to a law
firm, had been burned down as an exercise by
the Brandon Fire Department. She raised her
children for 12 years as a single mother until
she married Dr. Salvatore Fabbricante in 1978.
Knowing how Esther spends her time
today gives you an idea of why her children
all have great organizational skills. She
creates and maintains distribution lists in
her Outlook email program, keeps in touch
with friends all over the world via email and
Facebook, keeps a daily journal in Word
that she emails to family and friends, uses
Excel spreadsheets, uses a digital camera
and uploads photos to her computer, plays
Words With Friends on her iPhone, plays
bridge online and with clubs, is the recording
secretary and proof reader for several groups,
and belongs to several organizations. And
if you can’t remember someone’s name or
family relationship, just ask her.