Mr. Edd L. Brown

Edd Brown left this world for the next on Sunday, January 17, 2021 at the age of 94. He was a retired Baptist minister, a Navy veteran, and the “patriarch” of a Brown clan. Born in Archer City, Texas, he lived with his family in northern Texas and eastern New Mexico during the Great Depression. In 1935 they moved to Kamay, Texas, where he met his future wife Flo when they were ten years old. He joined the Navy in 1944, serving in the South Pacific on a tanker, the Escambia, whose crew he enjoyed attending reunions with for many years. After a tour in occupied Japan, he returned to the U.S., got married, and headed off to Hardin Simmons University in Abilene Texas, where his sons Steve and Wayne were born. He then attended Southwestern Seminary, had a third son, Bruce, and graduated with a master’s degree. He served churches in Woodward Oklahoma and Springfield, Missouri before relocating to California, where his daughter Marcia was born and he spent the remainder of his career. He served ten years as Minister of Education at First Baptist Church of Norwalk, and then three years as Pastor of Michigan Heights Baptist Church in Stockton California. After serving nine years as Director of Missions for the Redwood Empire and North Bay Associations, he became the Director of Men’s Ministries for the California Southern Baptist Convention, where he began leading volunteers on building, mission and disaster relief trips to over 30 countries. After “retiring” from the state offices, he continued to lead volunteer groups around the state and world, served as Director of Missions for the Mother Lode Baptist Association, and served as interim pastor of two churches in Germany. Always learning, he earned a master’s degree and a Doctor of Ministries from Golden Gate Seminary, as well as a contractor’s and pilot’s license.

Edd was a mentor and encourager of many young ministers, including his older son, two grandsons, and a son-in-law who also entered the ministry. A lifelong builder and repairer of structures and relationships across countries and cultures, he will be missed and fondly remembered by his family and friends. He was predeceased by his parents, two brothers and a sister, and a son. He is survived by his wife of 74 years, Florence Brown, son Bruce Brown (Lynne Shackelford) and daughter Marcia (Charlie) Reynolds of Greenville, S.C., son Steve (Peggy) Brown of Riverside, California and his sister Janie Cline (Mel), to whom he was as much a father as a brother, of Oklahoma City and 6 grandchildren, 9 great grandchildren, and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family is grateful to the staff and caregivers at the Haven at Chanticleer who assisted in his care the last two years. Memorials can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, Reedy River Baptist Church, or the charity of one’s choice. A virtual service will be announced at a later date.