James "Jim" O. Brown's Obituary
BROWN, James “Jim” O., age 95, of Waynesville, passed away Saturday, September 17, 2022.
Jim was a Navy veteran who proudly served in the South Pacific during WWII. He retired from DP&L in 1982 after 33 years of service. For many years, he served as pastor of the Friendship Baptist Church in downtown Harveysburg and another church in Peebles, Ohio. For the next 23 years, and until recent days, he has faithfully served as assistant pastor of the Bethany Baptist Church in Clarksville.
Funny, kind, friendly, caring, and God-fearing, Jim was family-oriented and stubborn in a fun way. He made friends quickly and was known to get his meals paid for regularly at the Village Restaurant by chatting up his dining neighbors. If you knew Jim and his witty sense of humor, it’s easy to see why family and friends often thought that getting a free meal was his goal all along with his friendly banter in restaurants. He loved eating, especially at the Village where his daughter works, but any restaurant or home-cooked meal that others prepared for him. His other favorite hobbies were watching OSU football and fishing. He enjoyed fishing from the bank at Caesar Creek Lake, from the shore with his son in Outer Banks, North Carolina, and from the beach in Fort DeSoto State Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Throughout his life, he enjoyed traveling with his wife. They visited the Holy Land several times and traveled back to his family home in West Virginia for family reunions every year, which became a fond tradition of Jim’s. In addition, his daughter earned a free trip to France from her workplace, and Jim volunteered to go along for her safety and enjoyment. Jim loved that French trip, and with his friendly persona, he made fast friends with a group of French guys playing bocce ball without him knowing French and without them speaking English. Some other notable things about Jim that his family will never forget were his love of wearing his USS Ralph Talbot DD-390 hat, which is the name of the ship he served on, and his rule that whoever said grace before meals could jump to the front of the line and eat first, which he took advantage of often. He also had a funny tradition while his kids were growing up of sneaking up behind them and smearing butter on their noses on their birthday each year.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ruth, in 2013; one daughter, Anita Horwath; his parents, Roy and Annie Brown; five brothers, Elmer, William, Robert, Roger, and John Brown; and two sisters, Ora Lee McComas and Shirley Maddy. He is survived by one son, Gary Brown; daughter Karen (Bill) Hurst; six grandchildren, Amber (Heath) Williams, Danielle (Dave) Holler, Courtney Walker, Caitlin Hurst (Doc Holiday), Kelly (Rob) Christman, and Amanda (Ken) Crawford; 15 great-grandchildren, Emily, Ben, Aiden, Eva, Grant, Kainen, Alexa, Logan, Matthew, Olivia, Kameron, Kaleb, Wyatt, Sam, and Charlie; son-in-law, John Horvath; sister-in-law, Sue Brown; and several nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at Noon Friday, September 23, at the Corwin Pentecostal Church. Tom Chattin and Randy Brown will be officiating. Burial will be in Miami Cemetery, Corwin. The family will receive friends 5 -8 PM Thursday at the church. If desired, contributions may be made to the charity of your choice in Jim’s memory. Stubbs-Conner Funeral Home in Waynesville is serving the family. Condolences at www.stubbsconner.com.
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