Jerry Dean Brown (1952 - 2006)

Born 8 Nov 1952 in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, USA

Ancestors

Son of Robert Allen Brown Sr. and Patricia Jean (Carper) Brown

Descendants

Died 13 Feb 2006 at age 53 in West Des Moines, IA

Problems/Questions Profile managers: Abby Glann [send private message] and Autumn Eddy [send private message]

Biography

Jerry Dean Brown was born 8 November 1952 in Des Moines, Iowa to Patricia Carper and Robert Brown Sr.^[1][2]

Jerry was an ornery middle-child, though he often filled the role of eldest son due to his older brother Bobby being blind.^[1] There are numerous stories of Jerry getting into trouble with siblings and classmates, many of which happened while the family lived on South Union Street in Des Moines.^[1] Jerry spoke of one instance where a little boy had cut in front of him at the water fountain, and in a rage, he pushed the boy's head into the fountain, breaking out his two front teeth.^[1] The family would make a few other moves before ending up in a farmhouse in Norwalk.^[1]

Jerry's high school years were spent at Norwalk High School, where we would enjoy the company of Dan Oviatt and Brian Wilson.^[1] Jerry was bright, but wasn't to be contained, so would not be the top of his class despite having the ability to have been. Instead, he pursued working with his hands in automotive class, inspired by his beloved Uncle Ralph, and being a member of the wrestling team.^[1] Jerry was an excellent wrestler and well remembered by his classmates. He would train by jogging the entire distance, many miles, between the family farmhouse, which burned down and only piers can be seen now, and the high school, each morning and evening. ^[1]

Despite mishaps here and there, Jerry made through high school. He had met his first wife, Kris Markum, in school, and ended up marrying her awhile after.^[1] The marriage wouldn't last long, and following their divorce, Jerry moved to the east coast.^[1] He worked as a taxi driver around Boston and started his association with the Christian fringe group, The Way.^[1] Letters home from Jerry from this time period revealed a very different person; even his handwriting was contained and delicate-a far cry from you would see in his later years.^[1] He would remember most fondly a mentor in the group named Bonnie, who he claimed was beautiful with long black hair typical of her Polynesian heritage.^[1] Jerry loved the east coast and would talk of his time there frequently through the years, despite whatever falling out between him and The Way group caused him to come home.

Once back in Iowa, Jerry took up over-the-road truck driving for several different companies, including Eagle Iron Works and Des Moines Piggy Back.^[1] He also mentioned working for McDonalds at one point (and the after hours free-food), Iowa Paint, several motorcycle dealers, as well as working for Menards in the eighties.^[1] The trucking was hard, and Jerry's childhood had left him with personal demons that would trouble him the rest of his life, and around this time his substance abuse would hit the first of a few peaks.^[1] He would move around to several places, living out of his van on occasion, lose his license but bypass that by using a different one he had from Nebraska, and go through several flings with jobs and women.^[1] He mentioned So's Your Mother's bar being a regular haunt and getting into trouble there many times.^[1]

Jerry was an avid music fan, and taught himself guitar at a young age.^[1] He was an excellent player and could pick things up by ear, quickly learning to play both lead and rhythm lines.^[1] He thoroughly enjoyed rock 'n' roll, and spoke of the day he bought his own copy of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and what an impact it had on him.^[1] One of his favorite tunes off the album would also be his class song, "With a Little Help From My Friends". That love of music (and the Beatles, for that matter) would be passed along to his children, as well as the musical talent.^[1] Jerry also attended numerous rock concerts in the seventies, and even jammed one evening with the Allman Brothers.^[1] He can also be seen in a Led Zeppelin concert video in the front row, as he attended in New York.^[1]

By 1980, Jerry had met Brenda Cain while she was working at Griffiths gas station in Hartford, Iowa, as he was regularly fishing and hanging out in his van by the Ford river access outside of town.^[1] Their relationship would be spotty in the beginning, but led to the birth of their first child, Abby, after which they would stay together the rest of his life. They first lived in a small rental farmhouse outside Indianola, then with his parents, and later in a few rentals in Des Moines, before buying an old farmhouse and five acres outside Hartford, Iowa between the births of the second and third children, Allen and Andrea.^[1]

Jerry would work hard to provide for his growing family, which would include another daughter, Autumn.^[1] He was an avid outdoorsman and would fill the family freezer with hunted meat and fish, as well as gardening to help provide.^[1] On one such fishing trip with a friend, he would sustain a fall on a slick spot and land on his lower spine on a tree stump. That fall would injure discs in his lower back and cause him lifelong pain.^[1] Around the same time, he'd be in a trucking accident, not his fault, which would injure discs in his neck, and between both accidents, would find it difficult to hold any permanent jobs. He drove a truck intermittently and repaired autos out of his home pole barn/shop.^[1] He would also spend a lot of time barely able to cope with pain doctors insisted couldn't be improved without too much risk. It would lead to another peak in substance abuse as he used various things, legal and illegal, to help him cope.^[1] That abuse was often mirrored onto his children in temper rages when he would "come down" off of use, and led to difficulty in his relationship with them and others, not to mention his marriage to Brenda.^[1] It would eventually lead to his death, by slowly destroying his digestive system.^[1]

Despite the strained relationships with his children and wife, he loved them fiercely.^[1] Everything he did, he did for them, although his ideas were often a bit off. He would trade for things he thought they wanted, take them one on one on a meal together, and in later years, chat their ears off on the phone.^[1] He wanted to be involved, though his emotional and physical torments made it difficult. He helped coach softball for his younger daughters. He was the loudest cheerleader for his children's jazz band years. He was bursting with pride as each graduated school and attended college. Though it was hard, he even did his best to embrace his daughters moving on and getting married. He was excited to be a grandpa but would only get to see and hold his first granddaughter, Abby's daughter, Liv.^[1] Just a week before Liv's first birthday, he went into septic shock due to pancreatitis.^[1] Doctors didn't think he would make it through the night at that point, but he did. He was kept in a medically induced coma for weeks while his body tried to heal. Despite many attempts at fixing his ailments, he would succumb to the pancreatitis six months later, surrounded by family and friends in hospice.^[1] His children came and sang to him, family gathered and shared stories and meals, and he went peacefully and very loved.^[1] Jerry passed away 13 February 2006 in West Des Moines, Iowa.^[2][1] His funeral was held the 15th at Hamilton's Funeral Home on SW 9th Street in Des Moines.^[1] His children would sing for him one last time, "We'll Meet Again", through tears.^[1] He was interred at the Hartford Cemetery, next to his father-in-law, Bob Cain, in the midst of a snow storm.^[1][2]

DNA

• Jerry's maternal relationship confirmed with a shared segment between Abby Glann, Lois Norton, Kathleen Norton, Michael Norton, Kallie Yen, and Andrea Newberry, sharing an 18cm segment on chromosome 7 from 36420786 to 52762106. MCRA: Thornton Price Heskett

• Jerry's paternal relationship is confirmed with an FTDNA test match between Abby Glann and Joyce Elaine Johnson, second cousins. Predicted relationship by FTDNA: 2nd-3rd cousins, based on 233 shared centimorgans, the longest being 79 in length.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 1.40 1.41 1.42} Firsthand discussions between Jerry and his daughter, Abby over a number of years
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2} Find A Grave: Memorial #37729973