Burton Gilbert Brown Jr.

Burton G Brown, Jr. was born in Topeka, Kansas on June 30th, 1938, to Burton Gilbert Brown & Helen (Irwin) Brown. In early childhood, the family moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where Burt graduated from Lawrence High School in 1957. He had a Christian Grandmother, Esther Fees, who was instrumental in him trusting Jesus Christ as his personal Savior when he was 9 years old. He also had an uncle who encouraged him to study for ministry. He enrolled in Kansas University (GO JAYHAWKS) but was unable to finish the year due to the requirement to pass English. The next year, he enrolled at Oklahoma Baptist University because he felt that he might be called into ministry. However, once again he was unable to pass the required English class & became discouraged. This ended his pursuit of a college degree or ministry.

He returned home to work for his father, who had a plumbing business, & he also joined the Kansas National Guard at that time. Burt really didn’t like plumbing work & he was buried alive twice while working in trenches & was miraculously rescued both times by a co-worker. He turned his efforts to learning the electrical trade & was ultimately able to receive his Master Electrician License—NO ENGLISH REQUIRED! He worked as an IBEW Local 124 Union Electrician for many years, often travelling to other states. Eventually he left the Union & started his own business called Besco Electric (Besco Electric Service Company), which grew to a point where he had a large crew & they worked on many large successful projects, including government contracts for which he received an award. An on-the-job accident, in which the light pole he was working on snapped & caused him to fall on his ladder & break his back, rendered him unable to work for 6 months. Then Besco was back to just him, but he worked hard & was able to grow it again to a small crew of men & 3 service trucks. Most of his final years in business were focused on tenant finish, which was refitting an existing business property to fit a new tenant. He shut down his company in 2002 & went to work as an electrical estimator until he retired in 2004 at age 65, although he continued doing electrical work for family & friends until he could not physically continue.

Burt married Catherine Brown in 1963 & they had a son, Kevin T. Brown, & moved to the Chicago area. The marriage ended in 1976. Kevin & his wife, Paula, came to Kansas City in 2024 for a visit. When Burt was 57, he met Janice Williams at Kansas City Baptist Temple & they married 2 years later on August 9, 1997. Janice had two grown children: Sean M. Williams and Lori S. Melton & Burt loved them both dearly and was always there to help them whenever they needed him & he was dad to them.

What drew Janice to Burt was his faith in God, love for God’s Word & his desire to serve in ministry. While dating, they were involved in the Gospel in the Stars ministry, which took telescopes to schools or groups to point out how the stars reveal the truth of God’s Word. They were also involved in a prayer team & when the head of that team started a new church, Grace Baptist Church of Lee’s Summit, they became members. At Grace, they were actively involved in Vacation Bible School & Soul Cookies. Burt, seeing the need for the men of the church to pray together on a regular basis, started Men’s Prayer Meeting in 1999. For many years, he was involved in the bible production ministry & he truly loved that ministry. He was also a deacon & did various electrical & other work on the church property. He was blessed to go on three mission trips; two to Iglesia Bautista Fundamental of Los Mochis, Mexico & one to a Mission in Chupaderos Durango Mexico with a Missionary Pilot friend from Texas. When they headed south for their annual three-month escape from winter weather for 14 years, they got involved in churches in Florida & Texas as well. For 8 years Jan’s mother traveled with them but when she could no longer live alone & came to live with them permanently, Burt accepted the changes that made in their lives with the same grace he demonstrated in every situation they faced.

Besides God & Jan, Burt had three passions: woodworking, golf & KU Basketball. He spent hours & hours in the garage making beautiful wooden bowls on the lathe given to him by Carl Cockrum. Carl bought the lathe to make legs for their kitchen table but instead, Carl gave the lathe to Burt & set his table on paint cans for years & never did make those legs! Burt made many wooden bowls on that lathe & many of the people in his church & family members have one. He donated a sofa table every year as a door prize for the Christmas Tea for the ladies in the church. In all, he made 30 of those tables & the parts for his last one still lay on his work table unfinished. His other passion was golf & he played on 3 golf leagues at one time & he & Jan traveled all over the country playing at many beautiful courses. His constant saying after a game he didn’t play well was: “I think I figured out what I’m doing wrong”. Of course, he never did! Burt grew up next door to the KU campus and he & his dad watched KU Basketball on TV & listened 0n the radio at the same time. Anytime KU played, he was stuck to the TV. Some of us saw him jump 3 ft off the ground one time when they won a championship game. He also loved the Royals & Chiefs and for many years had season tickets for both teams, but especially he loved the Chiefs. He also loved NASCAR racing & he got to go to several races out of state & at Kansas Speedway.

Burt was preceded in death by both his parents & his step-son, Sean Williams. He is survived by his sister, Carolyn Gillum (Gary), his son, Kevin Brown (Paula), Step-daughter Lori Melton, Step-grandchildren: Zechariah Melton (Leah), Cali Melton, Jessica Williams (Alex), Lindsey McClain (Justin) & 5 step-great-grandchildren: Lucy, Katherine, William & J.D. McClain, Olive Beckner & the 6th one, Honora, is due any day now.

Visitation will be at 10 am on Saturday, January 25th, at Grace Baptist Church at 850

SW 150 Highway, Lee’s Summit, MO 64082. Celebration of Burt’s Life will be at 11 am.