There was a case in my old congregation that is shrouded in mystery that i'd like to share and get your views. This is something i've wanted to talk about for years but it's strongly shot down if you even try to talk about it in my old congregation.
It involves a certain Brother B.
In my old congregation this brother was well liked. As a kid, we all knew him for being fascinated with Dinosaurs. He knew everything about them and lived and breathed paleontology. Anyway, Brother B also owned a snooker/pool hall. It did pretty well, there was virtually no where else in the city you could go to play snooker/pool that was as good as his place. It was a huge place that was always busy with pros and amateurs, and it even had a little pub attached to it.
Brother B was well liked. One day he got married to Sister B. About 3 years later they have a baby boy. Brother B dotes on his child like something you've never seen. As im writing this i can still see him holding his darling boy up in the air and the baby laughing at his daddy. Brother B gives his boy a kiss. A perfect picture of a happy family.
Then suddenly Brother B is never seen again by other congregation members. And whenever we ask about him we're shot down or given vague answers. Something didn't quite add up. Next thing, Sister B has inherited his entire business (the snooker/pool hall) and all the staff working there are all JW's. Note: Brother B was never announced as disfellowshipped.
My grandmother, who wasn't a JW but was well liked by all in the congregation (my granddad was a JW), was talking to my dad in the kitchen one day. And i overheard her say "it's terrible about what happened with Brother B, he did nothing wrong... nothing". My dad said "Yes mum, I know. But we cant do anything about it.".
I never did learn what happened. I know he tried to get custody of is son and lost. Then a ministerial servant in the congregation we'll call Brother S was friends with Brother B and wouldn't give up. He wanted answers. Why has his friend gone off the radar? He hasn't been DF'd so whats gone on? Eventually he was told what it was and stopped attending meetings from then on. This was a well used and good spiritual man. To this day no one I've asked seems to know. Some in the congregation do but when it's brought up they deflect the answer.
I was speaking to a friend who was raised a JW but never baptized and stopped going and he told me that one day the witnesses were witnessing in his area, the unknowingly knocked on his door and he chased them down the path shouting at them that they'd ruined his life.
It's like an Agatha Christie novel. And what makes it more perplexing is that we're all supposed to forget that he ever existed. All traces of him have been purged from the congregation. If you mention his name you get a stern look or warned not to ask about it.
To this day i think about him and miss him. I wonder what became of him. And i wonder if he knows that some of us who wernt in a congregation click miss him. But aside from all that, i really, really hope he has contact with his boy. He must be about 16 now.