Irvin E Brown

Brown was born July 11, 1928, in Filer, Idaho, to Pearl Lora Quinn and Kenneth Leonard Brown, the eldest of five children. He spent his early childhood in Idaho, before his father’s work took the family to California. After Kenneth’s death in 1940, Pearl moved with her children to Oregon. Brown graduated from St. Helens High School in 1947. Later that year, on Dec. 5, 1947, the young Private Brown received an honorable discharge from the National Guard of Oregon, having served in Company K, 186th Infantry. Brown entered the U.S. Army on Jan. 11, 1949, enlisting while visiting family in Idaho. His service included driving truck in Korea, and he received an honorable discharge on Sept. 9, 1952. Brown was awarded the Korean Service Medal with one Bronze Service Star, and the United Nations Service Medal.

Brown married Naomi V. Larson of Warren on May 17, 1954, and they settled in St. Helens and started a family. On Sept. 6, he moved from volunteer firefighting to a full-time hire position with the St. Helens Rural Fire District. Brown would serve with distinction as an active-duty firefighter for 27 years, retiring in 1981. Volunteer service accounted for another three years, and he received his 30-year pin at the end of his public-safety career.

In 1973, Brown held the rank of captain when a chlorine gas spill at Boise Cascade sent 21 people to the local hospital. Brown was one of two first responders on the scene and acted swiftly, saving many lives through quick thinking and rescue efforts. In recognition, Brown was named the 1973 Fire Fighter of the Year. In 1976, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant. From 1978 to 1982, Brown spent many off-duty hours on an address-road indexing program for the entire fire district.

Touring by car with family, camping, fishing, and waterfowl hunting were among Brown’s favorite off-duty pursuits as a young husband and father of three boys.

In his lengthy career, Brown served as station commander of the Deer Island substation and treasurer of the St. Helens Firefighters Association. Each Christmas he devoted many hours to the fire department’s Toy and Joy program, picking up donations and delivering gifts for area children. In 1992, the St. Helens Professional Firefighters’ Association, Local 3215, unanimously voted Brown into honorary membership.

Following retirement, Brown bought a mobile industrial washing business, which he operated for a few years before beginning yet another post-retirement career driving for Dalton Trucking in Fontana, Calif. A second retirement came about in 1991, when he began earnestly pursing his hobbies of travel, wildlife photography, and videography. After settling back in St. Helens, Brown continued his volunteerism, driving medical patients to appointments in Portland for the state’s Department of Human Resources. Naomi joined her husband for the trips, and both were recognized for their service in a 1994 letter from President Bill Clinton. Brown made new friends and enjoyed driving them to Portland until Alzheimer’s Disease undermined his ability to drive.

Brown was preceded in death by his father, Kenneth L. Brown of California; mother and stepfather, Pearl and Jack McAllister of St. Helens; brother-in-law, Carl Larson of Warren; and daughter-in-law, Marcy Brown of St. Helens.

He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Naomi V. Brown; three sons: Arlen (Pat) Brown of St. Helens, Perry (Tricia) Brown of Scappoose, and David Brown of St. Helens; three sisters: Evelyn (Joe) Baker of Scappoose, Elnora (Rod) Morilon of Mesa, Ariz., and Liona Ambler of St. Helens; brother: Alvin (Connie) Brown of Moreno Valley, Calif.; brother-in-law: Rolf (Donna) Larson of Warren; sister-in-law, Lorene Larson of Warren; grandchildren: Jennifer Houdek of Wilsonville, Kristen (Chris) Pedersen of Houston, Texas, and Jennifer Brown, Christopher (Chantelle) Brown, and Michael Brown, all of St. Helens; great-grandchildren: Kierra Morris of Wilsonville, Logan Page of Columbia City, Braydon and Kelton Houdek of Wilsonville, and Benjamin and Joseph Pedersen of Houston, Texas; special cousins: Richard (Betty) Brown of Rockford, Calif., and Earl (Susana) Howard of Hermiston; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Mon., Jan. 13, at Warren Community Fellowship, 56523 Columbia River Hwy, in Warren. Interment is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Skyline Memorial Gardens, 4101 NW Skyline Blvd., Portland.

Memorial donations in Brown’s name may be sent to the Toy and Joy Program, Columbia River Fire & Rescue Administrative Office, 270 Columbia Blvd., St. Helens, OR 97051.