Oliver Brazelle
SHEFFIELD – When disgraced and convicted 83 year old Oliver Brazelle passed away this past Sunday, it didn’t make the news. Brazelle, the once beloved and respected Youth Minister and Music Director of the venerable First United Methodist Church of Sheffield and many miles away from his prison cell, died at home in his bed.
When Brazelle plead guilty to a single charge of child sexual molestation from back in the ’90’s, he was given a 10 year sentence, which was split for him to serve 2 years behind bars and the remainder under supervised probation. Brazelle, in already poor health was incarcerated at the Hamilton Aged & Infirmed Center, which is a prison. But he only spent about 4 months there. According to the Lauderdale County District Attorney’s Office, Brazelle was given a hospice furlough to return to his home in Sheffield’s Rivermont subdivision in late December. He remained there under house arrest until his death this past weekend.
Attorney Ralph Holt, who represented Brazelle told the Quad-Cities Daily that, despite the obvious, Brazelle was a kind and gentle person. Holt had not had any recent contact with him and was notified about the passing by the District Attorney’s Office.
The funeral was held at a local funeral home on Monday, August 15.
