In Memoriam: Edgar Brown (1922-2006)

Ed Brown went to his reward with the Father on Monday, September 25, 2006. Ed was raised in an orphanage in New Jersey after the untimely death of his parents. As a young man, he fought in an infantry unit at the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. Few of us at JPBC will soon forget the powerful testimony he shared on the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend 2006 of God’s providential care for him during his military service. After a successful career in insurance in Manhattan, New York, he retired to Palmyra, Virginia, along with the love of his life and his wife of over 60 years, Evelyn. Ed often relayed how he was converted by reading a Moffett translation of the Bible while riding a commuter train to work in New York City. His negative experiences in a liberal, mainline Methodist Church as a new Christian gave him a passion for evangelical and orthodox truth and led him to become a devoted Southern Baptist. He was a voracious reader and self-studied, lay theologian.

Though we are, of course, extremely sad to hear of Ed’s death, there are certainly many things about the circumstances for which we can be thankful. First, Ed died rather suddenly of cardiac arrest. There was no lingering suffering or long stay in a hospital or nursing home. Second, Ed and Evelyn had only recently moved into a retirement home in Decatur, Illinois, to be close to one of their daughters. It now seems apparent that God was working in those circumstances. Third, we all had our chance to speak with Ed and wish him farewell during the reception in his and Evelyn’s honor just before they moved. Many of us had the opportunity to say things to Ed about his influence in our lives in the Fellowship Hall that day. Like a contemporary Tom Sawyer, he got to hear the things we might have said at a funeral or memorial service.

A funeral service will be held at the First Christian Church of Decatur, Illinois (the home church of their daughter Beverly) at eleven o’clock on Friday.

Having kept the faith, our friend Ed has now finished his course and received the crown of life. Soli Deo Gloria!