Darold Duane Brown, a resident of Mobile, Alabama, passed away on Thursday, September 7, 2023, at the age of 76 from heart complications from Kidney Disease and Diabetes.
How Duane and I met was during
Freshman year at college on a Saturday afternoon. I was walking down the side walk enjoying a beautiful afternoon when a girlfriend approached me and wanted me to go with her to a nursing home where a group of students were going to sing to the old people (nursing homes and singing I have no interest in). She insisted I go with her because she wanted to meet a guy and if she was alone she would look obvious. We got to the nursing home and she was obviously flirting with this guy While I'm standing off buy myself. Then a tall young man came up to me and introduced him self as Duane Brown and shared his song book with me. To my surprise he had a beautiful singing voice. We visited some at the nursing home before returning to the college . Union College had what was called the Peanut Hill a book with pictures of all the students and their information. I looked Duane Brown up and found out he was a Junior Theology major. WRONG ANSWER! I was not interested in dating a Theology major. About a week later I was in my room studying and along comes another girl friend who wants me to go to the gym to watch the basketball game. Sports is something else I have no interest in . She insisted I go with her because she wanted to meet a guy and didn't want to look obvious. There I meet Duane again after he had his friends stop me from leaving the game early so he could come sit with me. After the game he walked me back to the dorm and asked me for a date. I figured I should be polite and accept one date, and the rest is history. (Carolyn Crary Brown)
When Duane and I were engaged I mentioned to him that as well having biological children I also would like to adopt. God blessed us with 5 wonderful children. Some of my closest friends have a joke that I have 6 children 2 by birth, 3 by adoption and one by marriage. Duane being the one by marriage, definitely did like being a big kid with his children they were the greatest joy of his life.
Being a pastors wife wasn't really all that bad. I got to meet many wonderful people. Being involved in people accepting Jesus as their savior was a great privilege. There were many very happy times , very sad moments and hilarious funny times also.
On August 10 2023, it was our 54th wedding anniversary and on September 7th of 2023, less than a month later, we said goodbye to Duane- until Jesus comes.
"My Dad was an all around awesome person. He lived a life of service and managed to incorporate and have time for it all; God, Country, and family. He dedicated himself as a pastor and Chaplain to serving God and helping guide those in his flock, whether it be the soldiers in his unit, church members where he Pastored, or his children as we grew up. He had that 'dad joke' sense of humor with all the dumb jokes that were so silly you couldn't help but laugh. He loved singing hymns at church and 50's-60's top hit oldies when he drove me to school as a kid. He would always smile so brightly when I walked into the room he was in or came through the front door for a surprise visit! I could talk to him about adulting choices and problems and he would listen and give wisdom without judgement." (Melinda Griffin)
"Darold was diagnosed with diabetes mid-life and suffered many complications over the last 2 decades of his life. His eye sight was one of the first things that started to go and sign to us as a family after a severe car accident into a tree while visiting family. I remember being home for a friend's funeral and visiting my mom and dad before I had to catch my flight back to Wyoming and witnessed my dad having a stroke. I had to leave before I even knew if he was going to be ok. He had many more complications. His kidneys failed and he spent his last almost exactly 10 years on dialysis 3 times a week. When my brother called and told me my dad was having heart surgery in a day or two I knew I had to get in the car and go be with him and see him. He had survived so much for so long somehow I just knew - this might be it. I got to the hospital he was at a little after 4am. It had been about 3 years since he had last seen me. For the first 60 seconds or so he didn't recognize who I was, but then a light bulb went off in his head and he smiles so big, so happy to see me! I got to talk to him for several hours about everything and anything. He told me how much he loved my mom and how wonderful she was, and how he wished he had taken better care of his health so she didn't have to take care of him for so many years. He told me how he wished he had stayed in the Army longer than he did so he could have been there for all the soldiers who needed him through the last 20 years of war. He told me how proud he was of me and his son in law, and how happy I found someone I loved as much as he loved my mother. And then, the nurses and doctors came in and started taking him to pre-op and my dad was mentally gone. He didn't even know where he was anymore or what was happening. They did not take him to surgery that day due to something in his blood work, but by the next day they had already taken him in without notifying any of the family. Unfortunately, they could not repair his heart. The next time we saw him was to say goodbye. I held his hand until his very last breath so he would know his family was there for him and loved him." (Melinda Griffin)
The last photo, taken September 6th, 2023
"I remember in first grade being able to spend a lot of time with dad during school hours, and going with him to visit church members at the hospital. We didn't have a lot of options in the beginning with Christian education, but dad always spearheaded programs and advocated for the church schools so that a Christian education for the kids was an option" (Nathon Brown)
"Antigua!" (Kalia Saint Folmar)
"I remember Papa would always let me play with his marble works game. It was fun trying to create different tracks with him for the marbles to go down. It was always a fun time" (Christopher Griffin)
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