Robert Dean Brown Sr.

He was born on 8 July 1926 in Kansas City, Missouri and was the son of Ida Reavis Tuller and Elbert Tuller who raised him in Kansas City, Missouri and Grinnell, Iowa.
He is survived by his loving wife of 52 years, Ginny; two sons: Bob Jr and Philip Scott Brown, wife Frankie; four daughters: Linda Lee Harrison, husband Bill; Laura Ann, Pamela Allen, husband Bob and Roberta Jacobs, husband Tom; along with 9 grandchildren and 6 great-grandchildren. Bob also had an eldest son, named Renard Brown.
Some of what he accomplished during his time with us follows.
A veteran of WWII, he was a Rifleman in the 313th Infantry and received 2 Bronze Service Stars for the campaigns in Rhineland and Central Europe. While in Europe he carried a small bible which saved his life by stopping a bullet intent on taking it. He kept that bible, perhaps as a reminder of what might have been. Or maybe he just thought it would make a really good story one day and didn’t think anyone would believe him without it.
After the war and before he made is way to Texas in 1972, he played professional baseball in the St Louis Cardinals minor league system, was a competitive bodybuilder who won the title of Mr. Kansas City, helped open up a chain of Health Clubs which led to his meeting and working out with Johnny Weissmuller (aka “Tarzan”) of motion picture fame and worked as a trainer for the Kansas City Chiefs. He eventually settled on television and electronics repair where he learned the trade in the employ of Henshaw’s in Kansas City. He did well and briefly opened an electronics store with his wife Ginny in Dearborn, Missouri. He was convinced to take a job with Philco where he traveled across the nation training their field technicians.
Philco transferred him to Texas in ’72 then shortly afterward laid him off. To support his family, he held positions as maintenance technician and production supervisor for various distribution/manufacturing warehouses and the manufactured housing industry. During this period, he was heavily involved in Scouting where he served as the Cubmaster for Den #534 and Scoutmaster for Troop#534 in Mansfield, TX. Under his leadership, both his sons attained the rank of Eagle Scout. He earned an opportunity to go to Syria for 6 months to oversee the assembly of the manufactured houses he helped build as a production supervisor. He ended up retiring from Nortel in 1996 after a work injury which caused him to lose full use of his right arm.
During “retirement”, Bob became a Certified Master Gardener and a Ham Radio ‘Master Class’ operator. As a Ham operator, he volunteered to help with communications and serve as chase vehicle for the Cowtown Marathon. He also became involved with the Red Cross as a Disaster Relief volunteer and a SkyWarn spotter. During the last period of his life, Bob started volunteering for the Law Enforcement communities in first Fort Worth then Mansfield. He was a member of the Mansfield Citizens Police Academy Alumni. He completed the Citizen’s Police and Fire Academies in Mansfield and eventually joined the Victims Assistance Program in Mansfield where he felt he was able to make his most important contribution ever. He had fond memories of working with the Mansfield Police Department and the Alumni Association. He especially enjoyed going on a ride along. He was greatly disappointed when his health no longer allowed him to participate as much as his heart wanted to.
Bob died peacefully in Mansfield, Texas on 29 September 2015 of natural causes. He was 89 years old.
In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer donations to either RedCross.org or the WoundedWarriorsProject.org.
Bob will be laid to rest with military honors in a private ceremony at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on Tuesday.