He had a golfer's memory. Before he died Saturday from complications of back surgery, John W. "Jack" Brand, 87, could trace his life backward, course by course and shot by shot.

The earliest years: He won a tournament by default, because the competitors lost all of their golf balls. The later years: He enjoyed membership at Oakmont Country Club and raised funds for caddy scholarships.

In between, Mr. Brand, who died in St. Petersburg, Fla., but spent much of his life in Sewickley and the North Hills, captained the Penn State University golf team, used his insurance career as a springboard to golf games and used golf games as a springboard to many friendships and lessons.

Golf, he thought, revealed character. The game taught trust and honesty. And as a result, he devoted himself to following it, becoming a scratch player.

Even when he enlisted in the Army during World War II and found himself on a ship in the Far East, he still knocked golf balls off the boat and into the water.

"On the course, that's where he wanted to be more than anything," one of his daughters, Deborah McCarthy, said.

"His best stories were about golf. He could tell you just about every shot. Up until three weeks ago, he could tell you the place and date of every one of his holes-in-one" -- impressive, because he had four of them.

Mr. Brand, after attending Sewickley High School, was named "outstanding senior" of the Penn State Class of 1941. By then, his love for golf had already solidified, largely because of his father, a golf pro at Allegheny Country Club.

He retired from the insurance business -- he eventually served as president of Brand Associates -- some 18 years ago. Thereafter, he spent much of his time in Florida.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Brand is survived by another daughter, Keren Shelby; four granddaughters; and five great-grandchildren.

Funeral services are private but will be followed by a reception Friday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Oakmont County Club.