Laurence "Duane" Brown

L. Duane Brown, 90, of Ankeny, IA went into the presence of his Lord Jesus Christ on September 26, 2023 following six months in Mill Pond Care Center in Ankeny, IA. He was born near the family farm (Waverly, NY) in East Smithfield, PA on June 9, 1933 to Laurence and Irene Brown. Duane followed his wife Shirley in death (February 24, 2023) after 70 years of marriage.

Funeral Services will be held on Friday, October 6, 2023 at 10:30 a.m. at Faith Baptist Church, 401 2nd St, Cambridge, IA 50046. Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 5, 2023 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Ankeny Funeral Home, 1510 West First Street, Ankeny, Iowa 50023. Burial will be in Cambridge Cemetery following the service.

Duane graduated from Troy High School (PA) in 1951 and married (April 13, 1952) his high school sweetheart Shirley, the former May Queen (Troy). He graduated from Baptist Bible Seminary in Johnson City, NY (now Summit University) with a Th.B. and Bob Jones University with an M.A. and Ph.D. in New Testament.

Duane accepted Christ as his personal Savior in high school through the testimony of his older brother Ken who had received Christ while away at college through the witness of his dorm roommate, Paul Depue. This event changed Duane’s life trajectory who gave himself to serve Christ claiming 1 Thes. 5:24 as his life verse: “Faithful is he who calls you, who also will do it.” Duane served the Lord faithfully through over four decades of active ministry that included five pastorates (Mount Vision, NY; Pine Valley, NY; Ames, IA; Houston, TX; Parsippany, NJ), served twice as the initial state representative of churches (NY; PA & WV), and Bible college president (Denver Baptist Bible College and Seminary). Duane served in active leadership roles in many organizations that included camp director of BaYouCa camp in NY, president of the American Council of Christian Churches, member of the GARBC Council of 18, founding member of the Independent Baptist Fellowship of North America, as well as a board member for colleges and mission agencies. He received awards for distinguished service from many organizations over his years of ministry. He was a prolific author, notably authoring Biblical Basis for Baptists that has been used by hundreds of churches and translated into dozens of languages around the world. He would often pay the translation costs and donate to the printing of the book. He spent his life as a life-long learner, even researching theological liberalism just a few days before dying. He loved to travel, visiting six continents. He made 20 trips to France and lead about 20 tours to Israel. He was an avid golfer and student of history reading widely on espionage, politics, and westerns. He seemingly never passed an historical marker without stopping.

Duane and Shirley were active members of Faith Baptist Church in Cambridge, IA. Duane will be remembered as a loving husband, father, and grandfather, compassionate encourager, a strong and faithful expositor of the Bible, a dynamic preacher and communicator of Scripture, a mentor of men entering the ministry, a passionate winner of souls for Christ, a strong separatist for truth, and a lover of all things chocolate.

Duane is survived by his children Diane Mills (Don), Daniel Brown (Mary Jo), Denise Nelsen (Mark), and Douglas Brown (Tricia); sister-in-law Mabel; 14 grandchildren; and 17 (soon to be 18) great grandchildren.

Duane is preceded in death by his wife Shirley; son David; and siblings Donald, Kenneth (Zelda), Arlene, and Sarah Shumway (Karl).

The family would like to thank the staff at Mill Pond Care Center for their care and kindness throughout dad’s stay there and the staff of the Unity Point hospice. We praise God for the extraordinary love and care demonstrated by Kris and Jim Parlee over the past few years of Duane’s life. We are thankful for the many expressions of love demonstrated to our family through the homegoing of both Duane and Shirley.

The family requests that memorials be given to the scholarship fund of Faith Baptist Theological Seminary, Ankeny, IA.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AnkenyFuneralHome.com for the Brown family.