BRASSTOWN – Dr. Brian Patrick Mitchell, 78, of Brasstown, died at home on May 29 with his family by his side, after surviving four years with cancer.
Mitchell was a prominent physician in Cherokee County and a former member of the Cherokee County Board of Education.
Mitchell cared for generations of the Cherokee County community at Peachtree Internal Medicine Clinic, becoming deeply committed to his patients, often working late to deliver results of lab tests over the phone or to handwrite letters to those who had lost loved ones.
As a school board member from 1990 to 2008, he advocated for academic rigor, building improvements and equitable policies for students and staff. Believing that Murphy needed a pool, he led a small committee which secured over $2 million for the creation of the facility now called Murphy Health and Fitness.
He served on boards of directors for multiple organizations, including the McClure Foundation, the Hiwassee Valley Recreational Foundation and the Dogwood Trust.
In 2022, he received the Order of the Longleaf Pine from then-Gov. Roy Cooper for his service to North Carolina, the highest honor a state governor can award.