Warren Harding Brown

Born in Center Hill, Florida, he was the eighth child of Robert and Mary Iola Brown. He attended business college in Tampa but left to join the US Coast Guard during World War II. He served on the destroyer escort USS Newell 322. While docked in New Jersey, he met Edith Evensen, who would become his wife for almost 66 years. They married a few months before the war ended. After the war, Mr. Brown worked for Westinghouse in Newark, New Jersey.

In 1955, he moved his family, which now included two young daughters, to the central Florida area as he got a job with R.G. Coffman Ornamental Iron. He bought the company after the death of the owner.

For many years Mr. Brown was active at St. Paul's Lutheran Church and was instrumental in organizing Orlando Lutheran Towers. Later, he transferred his membership to Reformation Lutheran Church.

A hunter, golfer and gardener, Mr. Brown truly enjoyed the outdoors.

He hunted deer, various birds and other wildlife. Several times he traveled to the West to hunt deer with friends. Daughter Lynnie said, “He taught me to shoot and to respect all life. We never shot anything we didn't eat. One of our favorites was quail.”

Mr. Brown also enjoyed his dogs. He hunted with a beagle in New Jersey. In Florida, he owned an English pointer, Clay, who won various distinctions in competitions. He doted on Lynnie's Dobermans and Vizslas.

Daughter Joan was in awe of Mr. Brown's gardening abilities. She had an article on this published in the Orlando Sentinel. She said, “I knew better than to try to plant poinsettias in my yard. I would enjoy them during the holidays and give the plants to Daddy. He would plant them in his yard and they would flourish.” He won yard of the month repeatedly. He was especially talented at growing pineapples and even had enough guavas on his bushes at his Belle Isle home to make jelly. The last few years he concentrated on flowers and saved seeds which he offered guests. A few weeks before he died, he and Joan planted gladiolus bulbs. Each day during his decline she reported to him the number of bulbs which had germinated and the height of the tallest ones.

His eight siblings predeceased him. He is survived by his wife; daughters Joan Brown Williams and Marilyn (Lynnie); four grandchildren, Aren Williams, Kristina Harold, Summer Escalante, Andersen Williams; and five great-grandchildren, Jensen Williams, Ella Williams, Natalie Harold, Evan Harold, Uma Escalante; nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be Sunday 2-4 p.m. at Carey Hand Colonial, Curry Ford Road. Services will be Monday at 11 a.m. at Reformation Lutheran Church.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a donation to the memorial fund at Reformation Lutheran Church, 800 E. Michigan, Orlando 32806 or Cornerstone Hospice, 106 W. America St. Orlando 32801.