Darrel Brown

Darrel S. (Brownie) Brown, 80, passed away Monday February 13, 2012 at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City, IA after a lengthy illness. Visitation will be held at Olson-Powell Memorial Chapel, 709 E. Mapleleaf Drive, Mt. Pleasant, IA, beginning at 2:00 PM on Thursday, February 16. The Knights of Columbus will recite the Rosary beginning at 4PM that afternoon. The family will greet friends following the Rosary. At 6:30 PM that evening a Christian Vigil Service will be held. Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, 607 South Jackson Street, Mt. Pleasant, IA, on Friday, February 17, at 10:30 AM, with The Rev. Joseph Phung, celebrant. Interment will follow at St. Alphonsus Catholic Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Brownie's memory to the Mt. Pleasant Community High School Athletic Booster Club, Baskets of Hope, which is an organization that provides "entertainment baskets" to hospitalized children, or H2O (Help to Others), a local organization that supports families in medical crisis. Brownie was born in Scottsbluff, Nebraska on July 12, 1931, the third child of Byron Arden and Alta Mae Thurman Brown. Brownie lived with his family in Banner County, Nebraska until 1947 when they moved to Iowa Falls, IA. He graduated from Iowa Falls High School in 1949 and began working as a meat cutter at a local grocery store. On January 29, 1950, he married Mary Ann Smith in Iowa Falls. During the early 1950's, Brownie and Mary moved around northern Iowa, as Brownie sought better positions with a variety of grocery store chains. In 1957, Brownie joined Hy-Vee Food Stores at their Ames, IA location. He moved to the Corydon, IA store as the meat market manager in 1958 and then to Mt. Pleasant in 1961. He managed the meat market at the Mt. Pleasant location until his retirement from Hy-Vee Foods in 1991. In his retirement years, Brownie enjoyed playing golf, spending time with his wife and family, vacationing during the winter months in New Braunfels, TX and enjoying morning coffee with friends at Dickey's in Mt. Pleasant. During the majority of his retirement years, Brownie worked part-time during the summer as the assistant greens-keeper at Mt. Pleasant Golf and Country Club (MPGCC). Brownie was a member of St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Mt. Pleasant where he served on the first Parish Council and was a past chairman of the St. Alphonsus Old Threshers Steering Committee. Brownie was a Charter Member of Knights of Columbus Council 7294. In the 1970's, he served on the Board of Directors of MPGCC and was President of the Mt. Pleasant Goal Line Club (now the Mt. Pleasant Community High School Athletic Booster Club.) He was preceded in death by his parents; an older sister, Maxine Brown; and an older brother, Arden Leon Brown. Brownie is survived by his wife, Mary, of 62 years; five children, Stephen (Susan) of Lockport, IL, Becky Zickefoose (Bryan Molyneux) of What Cheer, IA, Marty (Donna) of Mt. Pleasant, IA, Michael (Kristi) of Comfort, TX and Scott (Juli) of Cumming, GA; sixteen grandchildren; and fourteen great-grandchildren. He is also survived by a sister-in-law, Kathy (Robert Burkle); a brother-in-law Robert Smith; fifteen nieces and nephews; many cousins and many, many friends.