Paul Arnold Brown

Beloved father, grandfather and friend, Paul A. Brown died Saturday, February 11 at The Selfhelp Home of Chicago after a long struggle with Chronic Kidney Disease. He was 88. Mr. Brown was born February 4, 1935 in Chicago to Joseph and Betty (nee Plotkin) Brown. He grew up on Lunt and Albion Avenues in the Rogers Park neighborhood of the city. He attended Sullivan High School and Elgin Academy and graduated from Sullivan in 1953. A chance meeting on a train from Chicago to the University of Illinois at Champaign led him to a courtship with Nancy Mae Warshaw of Hyde Park, and they married in 1954.

After graduating from Roosevelt University in Chicago with a degree in business administration, Mr. Brown joined the family commercial-services business with his father and older brother Jerome. He was vice president of sales at Anchor Building Maintenance on the Northwest Side of Chicago until he retired in 1986.

Mr. Brown joined the Illinois Army National Guard in 1957 and often spoke fondly of his time serving his country, frequently recounting stories of training and exercises with his fellow Guardsmen. He was honorably discharged in 1963.

After moving to Highland Park in 1963, Mr. Brown became active in local politics and community affairs, serving as a precinct committeeman. Together with his wife he held a deep commitment to political awareness, good citizenship and was a strong defender of Democracy and progressive ideals.

He relished a variety of movie genres, classical literature and music, and science fiction across every medium (radio, television, movies, books) and made sure his family was exposed to a wide variety of cultural influences. In his youth he was a competitive tournament golfer at Twin Orchards Country Club and played in a regular foursome for some 20 years on courses around the north suburbs, California, Nevada and Florida.

His real passion, though, was writing. His moving poetry has been published in several Chicago-area journals and he spent much of his later years completing an unpublished novel, a mostly autobiographical look at life in the Midwest in the second half of the 20th Century.

He is survived by his children, Jeffrey and Stephanie (Kerch), and four grandchildren, Alexandra (Monteleagre), Hannah, Madeleine (Kerch) and Benjamin (Kerch). A memorial service will be held Friday, February 24, 3:00 p.m. at Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 111 Skokie Blvd, Wilmette. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in the name of Paul A. Brown, to the Gary Sinise Foundation (garysinisefoundation.org), a foundation that serves America's defenders, veterans, first responders, their families, and those in need.

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