Sunday, August 22, 2010
Philip Ray Brown passed peacefully away in his home at 8:30 on Sunday morning, surrounded by his family. We are grateful to have been blessed with such an incredible father in our lives. We are grateful that he was able to pass so quickly and are happy that is finally reunited with our mother - Netta.
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37 comments:
You have my prayers and deepest sympathy. What a GREAT example and heritage you have received from your parents. You had two extra years and now the suffering has ended and the celebration in Heaven begins. What a blessing to help you through these sad days.
Love, Beverly
What a great man and he will always be loved. The impact his time on earth has left on so many people is immeasurable. I am proud to be able to share my memories of him as my Mission President and my friend with my wife and kids. God bless your family during this time.
my thoughts and prayers are with you nikki and your fam at this time...im so sorry for your loss...
I am so glad that just to weeks ago, we got to see Pres. Brown strolling with his son out of the mall and we got to speak for a few moments and get one of his big bear hugs. I will cherrish that occasion and the many wonderful experiences I had with Pres. Brown in mission, throughout all my life. He is a great man, and one of the greatest examples I have in my life.
I'm happy he's back with his dear wife, Sister Brown. That was his wish.
Your family is in our prayers. What a blessing to have had Pres. Brown in your family, and to have had him in our lives. Thank you.
Um grande abraco e um grande Bem Haja, Presidente Brown.
Eurico e Kita Costa
Thank you for the post. We all feel blessed to have crossed paths with him in this life. Thank you for sharing him with us. The world is a better place because of him. Our love goes out to your family.
We will miss Uncle Phil. He was always so happy and fun to be around. Our prayers are with your family. We too are so happy that he gets to be reunited with Netta. We will always have wonderful memories of your dad.
With lots of love,
Michael and Tiffany Brown and kids
Dear Brown Family,
We will miss Uncle Phil! Reunions will never be quite the same without his wonderful laughter ringing out all over the homestead. The beauty of it is, that I can hear it now even as I think of him, so his zest for life will always be with me...influencing me for the better. What a wonderful man! May God bless and keep each of you during this temporary seperation from him and your mom.
With all our love,
Jeanine and Ken Legler
and family
We are thinking of all of you during this time of sorrow. We are grateful that the Lord answered the prayers that Uncle Phil would be able to go quickly and peacefully. What a great reunion he must be having right now with so many that have gone on before him.
We love you all.
Tom and Ann Perry family
Thinking of you and your family during this difficult time. Our prayers are with you and your family! Please give Misha big hug for me as well...
-Lindsey Fisher
Uncle Phil always reminded me of my dad-especially after my dad died I would cherish his hugs and conversations with him because it reminded me of my dad. The book in hand or in the back pocket. The sunflower seeds. The love of St. Johns and Arizona. The disheveled appearance. It makes me so sad that there is one less connection to my dad. I'm sure that they are having a great reunion! I will miss Uncle Phil so much! May you all have peace and comfort during this time.
Lots of Love
Mandy
Can you just imagine the reunion between Pres & Sis Brown?!! I loved how they looked at one another and their playfulness with each other, sometimes in exasperation. I loved Pres Brown's hearty laugh and Sis Brown's "Oh Phils". I will miss them, but remember them with a lot of fondness and love. I am grateful to have been blessed by their goodness and their love. I count myself among those that had the BEST mission president ever. Our family is thinking of and praying for your family during this time of sorrow. Thanks for sharing your parents with us. Love, Kim Garrity Springer
President Brown / Uncle Phil / Dad - whatever the accolade the man deserves the very very best. It's neat to see the Brown's in such support, acceptance, and faith. I can't imagine how he missed Sister Brown and vice versa. Know this - as much of a legend he is among your family he shares the same stature in mine. He's the only man, that I hold in reverence that approaches the level of my very own father, and that's lonely company in my opinion.
Thanks for sharing - please somehow communicate the funeral arrangements, locations, and times. As I would like to attend.
K. McCandless
I was so sad to hear of his passing, but I know that there is quite the reunion in Heaven today! He was a great Mission President, and I learned a lot about the Gospel and myself under his direction. May the Lord bless and keep your family during this transition time and may He comfort all those who knew this great man and his wife.
Marnie (Pitcher) Ellis
In this hours that are few words that are able to confort us. I join with you, even so far by distance, but as close as can be by the Spirit of God. Those mission years were special and have marked my life deeply. And I am so glad that I had President and Sister Brown as my dad and mom in the mission field. Never felt the love of a father and mother, as I was raised by my grandmother, and that time was most special for me. I wish to share this with you, as the advices that President Brown gave me last till today and have blessed my life over and over. Thank you Philip Ray Brown for the kind of man you were and for the way you decided to live your life here on this hearth. Now I know with much certainty that I have gained today one more special friend and helper in the spiritual world. These words came from someone whose life has been blessed to cross with the path of life of Philip Ray Brown. To you see you and farewell my brother, my leader and my friend.
Luís Vaz
You are all in my prayers. If possible I know that I and other missionaries would like to attend the memorial service. I will not be sending flowers but I am going to take that money and make a donation to the Church's Missionary fund in you dad's memory. He spent so much of his time working with the program that I hope he will think that this would be a good thing.
I loved your mom and dad and I am happy that they are able to be together once again.
-- William Burnett
President Brown will be missed for sure by those he left behind. What a wonderful reunion it must be on the other side with Sister Brown! I still share stories often about President Brown. I'll never say "Mesmo" without thinking of President Brown. Most of all I'll remember the one on one missionary interviews and his deep desire for the work, as he pulled cookie crumbs out of his suit pocket. Thoughts and prayers go out to the Brown Family.
Thank you so much for sharing your parents with all of us missionaries. What a tremendous sacrifice you all made. I will be forever grateful for their example. Your father inspired me with MANY of his talks. I used to love to listen to his talks at conferences. The notes I kept are precious to me and I have gone back to them many times in my life when I have so desperately needed inspiration. He once gave an amazing talk about Heroes. He is truly deserving of a place in my Hero Hall of Fame. My prayers are with you and your family and I rejoice in the fact that they live on.
Love, Kathleen (Evans) Jablonski
Dear Brown Family
Is very sad when we don't do what the spirit tells us. Several weeks ago I felt that I should send a message to President Brown because I didn't have any contact with him since 2004, but the e-mail that I had wasn't receiving the messages and kept that in standby. Today, I stayed so sad when I read in a Mormon portuguese web site that he passed away and there it was the reference of his blogger. I didn't know that he was so sick. I should have sought harder his contact to have the chance to say that I love him. He was indeed a great mission president and I learned so much from him and from sister Brown too. I´m so grateful that I served in Porto Mission during their leadership. They will be always remembered and loved and my kids will always hear the spiritual and funny stories that I lived with them. My prayers are with all the family, Love Sister Helena Vieira
I'm sorry to hear of the loss of President Brown, who had great love for everyone. To know him was to love him! Condolences to a wonderful family. Jared Holt
I just heard the news and am flooded with happy memories and sadness that he is gone. I had the privilege of working closely with your father for almost a year in Portugal. I came to love and respect him, and he influenced my life, perhaps more than anyone outside of my family has. He did a great work there at a difficult time. On a visit to Portugal last year, I saw his mark was still visible on the church there, as it is on many of us.
Randy Peterson
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you at this bittersweet and tender time. I loved, appreciated, and admired both your parents. I''m so glad to have learned about this blog -- hadn't seen it before now. God speed, President Brown.
I remember learning that the word "saudade" is difficult to translate into English -- that the closest thing was "nostalgic yearning," or something like that.
Today, as I think back on all of the wonderful mission memories and the many valuable lessons I and others learned at the feet of President Brown, only the word "saudade" seems appropriate to describe what I feel.
Thank you to the Brown family for all of the memories and sharing your wonderful parents with us. Thank you too for the valuable lessons in life and the gospel. You will be in my family's thoughts and prayers.
Phil Marsh
Oh i miss all the conversations we had in oour interview special the one after sao joao party. i still remember the hug he gave me in the end of the interview... what a previlege to serve with him
President Brown fought a good fight, finished his course, and kept his faith.
I will never forget him; he took the light of our Savior high with his love a guidance, and was the better mission president someone can have.
He was literally a father for all of us in the mission field.
For me, a convert on the church he was, in a sense, my spiritual father, that shaped my testimony and forever influenced my life and my family's life.
I feel privileged to have worked with him and Sister Brown.
Reading the blog (I was not aware it existed) made me cry... and laugh; I could almost ear is voice when I read his jokes, in my mind.
Let me share the first time we meet.
It was really dark and late in Porto the day I arrived on the mission field, coming from the London MTC. The AP's where at the airport with him; he was a greeny mission president with only one month there.
He told the APs to go home because he would take me back to the mission home... well try to :)
...it took us more then 2 hours finding the mission home. He would drive around and around the same streets (we were literally lost).
He would try to drive and talk with me for 2 hours... but when talking with me he would actually turn is face and completely forgot about the car.
We almost hit parked cars on the street several times. He was so concentrated in talking with me that maybe he though that the car would go by itself.
I was scared by his driving :) After that I never saw him drive for two years :) Sister Brown looked like a race car driver, nevertheless :)
When we finally arrived he took time to show me pictures of his ranch and told me about his cows "Elder Cordeiro, estas são as minhas Vacas" :)
He really cared about each of us personally and shared his own things, like if he already knew us for ages.
I suspect that he actually did because his spirituality was very present.
On another occasion, after my mission, I went to SLC with my wife for general conference, and we stayed in his house. We came by BUS from SLC with him when he left work and inside the BUS he started to speak very powerfully about his testimony related with a mission experience... this in Portuguese.
Everybody in the BUS was just so silent hearing him and watching him crying... The spirit was so strong inside that BUS, that the Portuguese language was not an issue anymore for everyone, because he was speaking the tongues of angels.
Terei sempre saudades dos momentos que passei com o presidente e a irmã Brown. Oro para que um dia nos possamos todos reunir e provar daquele fruto que o presidente bem conhece que é o amor de Deus.
Obrigado por tudo "MESMO".
Sincere condolences to the Brown family. What a great man, and great example. I'm sure he's happy as can be, and relieved to be free from pain. I can imagine the first time he sees his beloved wife, he'll be "smiling a smile wide enough to eat a banana sideways." :)
Thanks for everything, President Brown and family. May God bless you!
--Jeff Davis
Happy to think President & Sister Brown are now reunited and that he is done suffering. One of the greatest men I have ever known. Thank you Brown family for sharing him with us missionaries! I always loved the feeling in the Mission home because it just felt like home. In recent years when we’d visit him, he would always remember my kids and what they were doing… amazing with the number of kids and grandkids he had but that’s why everyone loved him, because he loved and took interest in everyone. My thoughts and prayers are with the family as we recollect & celebrate his life.
Jared Hansen
Our thoughts and prayers go to your family at this time. John often tells our kids and the missionaries in our Branch about the special "missions" President Brown sent him on - "smuggling" missionaries in to Portugal from Spain or fixing the wrecked mission cars. He was the perfect Mission President for John.
Sister Brown grew up with my Aunt Velma and Uncle Harvey Taylor in Colonia Juarez so I have heard many great stories of her, too. What a wonderful legacy you have!!
I have many fond and precious memories of President and Sister Brown. I was from Mesa, Arizona as were they. I always felt a special relationship and bond with them. President served his mission in Brazil a little before my father. I loved to hear his stories from his mission in Brazil and would ask him questions about it as we drove places together.
I was one year into my mission when President and Sister Brown arrived. I had recently been put in as a zone leader in Sao Joao da Madeira. It was close enough that they could keep an eye on me but far enough for me to feel some distance from the mission office. President put a lot of trust in me and several others later that fall when he called us to open the city of Covilha. He sent Elder Harper, Dobbs and Waddell to work with me and we had a great time. The Lord blessed us and President continued to send us great missionaries. Elder Shepard came and became a great example to me of a dedicated missionary along with the others. President put me with the best missionaries and let us work to find the Lord’s elect. I will forever be grateful for his inspiration and guidance to shape my life. I ended my mission serving with Elder Harper as a co-junior companion in Covilha with Elder Howes as our zone leader and senior companion. We worked 120 hours our last week and hardly slept. We lived in a basement and had no members when we started in that city. My companions built a branch there and the church purchased a home for a chapel because of the attendance by the time we left. It was a great part of my mission.
We loved President and Sister Brown because of their open, kind hearts and the ability they had to use their judgment and common sense. President would always tell jokes and could go from that kind of situation to a very deep spiritual point quickly. I was fortunate in that I spent much of the end of my mission as an assistant to President Brown. I learned a great deal from him. Sister Brown was my most ardent supporter. We were trying to get the number of converts to increase and we had many missionaries who were resistant to what President and Sister Brown wanted done. I remember a specific zone conference where Sister Brown took me aside and said, “You remind me today of the poem “Invictus” by William Ernest Hendley.” I didn’t know what she was talking about until she started quoting the poem. I was familiar with the line, “my head is bloody but unbowed” which she said was particularly poignant for what we were trying to do. I felt very lonely that day and she was the one to lift me up and pick up my spirit. She lived her life that way, with an indomitable spirit. I remember fondly her spicy spaghetti at zone conferences. She was a critic of what she thought we were doing in Covilha until she came down to a zone conference and saw for herself the way we taught. From that point on she was our biggest supporter. That showed me her amazing ability to look for the truth and not be worried about where it came from. She was not concerned with title or position, but instead worried about accomplishing the Lord’s work.
I fondly remember President fidgeting during prayers. We would pray a lot together as I spent time with him. He was quick to get on his knees and ask the Lord for help and for guidance. I remember being in his home office and saying a prayer as he was wrestling around with his hands and changing positions kneeling. Perhaps he was uncomfortable and needed to move around or, as I have later thought, perhaps he was so into the prayer that he was totally unconscious of his physical movements. I don’t know why, but that thought has given me great comfort as I hold family prayer and pray privately since my mission.
I love President and Sister Brown. I am happy that they are reunited and able to belly laugh together again. I look forward to when I will be able to laugh with them. I will always be grateful for what they taught me, the trust they gave me, the confidence they inspired in me and the testimony of Jesus Christ that they help me build.
Um grande abraco Presidente e Sister Brown. Eu vos amo.
Elder Cardon
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Brown family. I have so many wonderful memories of President and Sister Brown. I am so thankful for the opportunity to have known and served with them.
-Jennifer (Laws) Peterson
Just got the news. I'm sorry for the Brown family's loss after all he did for me and my colegas.
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