Victor Arnold (Vic) Brown, 80, of Raleigh, North Carolina, passed away at his home on May 18, 2022, with his wife of 27 years, Nancy Campbell Brown, by his side. He was born on October 28, 1941 in Knoxville, Tennessee, to the late Henry Kenneth Coats and Mary Munn Brown.
Vic was an Army brat and lived in various parts of the United States during his childhood, as well as in Germany, especially Heidelberg and Schwetzingen. He graduated from Baker High School in Columbus, Georgia, in 1959, and after a year at Columbus College, he attended North Georgia College in Dahlonega, Georgia, where he received his commission as an officer in the United States Army and graduated cum laude with an A.B. in History in 1964. He married his college sweetheart, Susan Frances Hargrove, in 1965, with whom he had two sons, James (1968) and Nathan (1971).
During his career in the U.S. Army, Vic served two combat tours in Vietnam, in 1966 and 1969, where he earned, among various other honors, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge and four Bronze Star Medals. In 1973, he earned an M.A. in International Studies from The American University. He retired from the Army in 1987 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, and enjoyed a second career, teaching as a civilian employee of the Department of Defense, until his retirement in 2003.
Vic was a loving and devoted father to both James and Nathan, as well as to Elizabeth Bruntlett DeLoache, whom he joyfully embraced as a daughter with his second marriage to Nancy in 1995. Through James and Nathan’s teenage years, Vic was a single dad who raised his boys in a home filled with love, honesty, laughter, and a lot of books and newspaper clippings, while happily tolerating rock-and-roll band practice. As a grandfather, Vic unconditionally offered the same love and devotion to all his grandchildren.
In his retirement, Vic loved traveling with Nancy and especially loved watching sunsets at Atlantic Beach, driving the Blue Ridge Parkway, cooking new recipes, and indulging his quest for the perfect barbecue. Vic was a voracious, eclectic reader, and through his life was passionate about learning. History and theology were two of his beloved subjects, and he earned a Diploma in Theology in 1999 from the Lay School of Theology at Virginia Theological Seminary. He deeply loved art and music as well, finding as much joy and beauty in bluegrass banjo as in the works of Bach or Beethoven.
Vic was a gentle, patient, and quiet man who believed deeply in God and in God’s redeeming grace. He shunned fanfare, yet touched the lives of so many, known and unknown, through his love, his service to his country, his quick notes of encouragement to those in pain or need, and his innumerable postcards and doodles to friends and family.
Vic is survived by Nancy, her daughter Elizabeth and husband, George, and their children Grace and Thomas DeLoache of Raleigh, NC. He is survived by his son James Brown and his wife, Susan, and their children Jacob and Miller, of Chapel Hill, NC; and his son Nathan Brown and his wife, Amy, and their children Savannah, Noble, and Faith, of Crozet, VA. Vic is also survived by his brother Paul Brown, of Venice, FL and Monika Wenger, of Middletown, DE.
A service in celebration of Vic’s life was held on Tuesday, May 24, at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, in Raleigh, where Vic was a member. Memorial service and interment of ashes will be held later this summer at the Cathedral Shrine of the Transfiguration, at Shrine Mont, in Orkney Springs, Virginia.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made to With Love from Jesus (www.withlovefromjesus.org/how-to-donate/) or to Shrine Mont (www.shrinemont.com/donate).
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