WARREN ISHMAEL BROWN

BUCKSPORT and FORT KENT Warren Ishmael Brown, 78, died Aug. 16, 2004, at Bangor. He was born Aug. 29, 1925, in Newport, the son of Dana and Hazel (Newcomb) Brown. He was a graduate of both Newport High School and Maine Central Institute, and received a B.S. degree in Agronomy from the University of Maine at Orono in 1950. A veteran of World War II, he earned two bronze battle stars, the combat infantry badge and a presidential unit citation for front line action with the 4th Infantry Division in the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns. During his college years, he worked weekends and summer vacations for the Maine Breeding Cooperative as an artificial inseminator of dairy cattle in the Newport and Corinna units. Following graduation, Brown was employed by the Cooperative Extension Service as a county 4-H agent in the St. John Valley area of Aroostook County from 1950 through 1956. He was chosen twice during that period to be the recipient of Maine’s outstanding county 4-H agent award. While headquartered in Fort Kent, he was active in the American Legion and served as commander of the Martin-Klein Legion Post and as service officer, adjutant and vice commander of the Aroostook County Legion Council. In November of 1956, Brown transferred to the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service’s State Office Headquarters in Orono and relocated with his family back to his home-town of Newport. He served with that Federal USDA Agency for the next 18 years and at the time of his retirement was program specialist with developmental and administrative responsibilities covering all federal farm programs under ASCS in Maine. Brown and his wife, Norma, spent most of the next 25 years at their 225 acre farm on Charette Hill in Fort Kent. In 1993, they were named the “Outstanding Conservation Farmers” of the Year by the St. John Valley Soil & Water Conservation District Board of Supervisors and were also recipients of a “Take Pride in America” Award. Brown was deeply interested in nature and the great outdoors. He spent many happy hours in the woods and on the waters – in earlier years as a fisherman, hunter, trapper, and registered Maine guide; and in later years as an observer and steward of our Lord’s natural resources. He was a member of the First Assembly of God Church in Fort Kent and more recently attended the Ellsworth Assembly of God as well as the Bucksport Church of God. He had full confidence and trust in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and “In his death on the cross for my sins and in his shed blood as an atonement for my soul; and I know by faith that because of his sacrifice on the cross for me I have eternal life.” Brown was a lifetime member of the American Legion Post No. 73 in Corinna and the Disabled American Veteran’s. He also belonged to the National Association of Retired Federal Employees, the Small Woodland Owners Association of Maine, the Central Maine Trappers Association, and the St. John Valley Soil and Water Conservation District. Brown is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Norma (Mountain) Brown of Bucksport; two daughters, Linda L. Lemmon and her husband, Gerald, of Orland and Patricia A. Hernandez and her husband, Luis, of Sarasota, Fla.; one son, Robert T. Brown and his wife, Dorothy, of Bradenton, Fla.; five granddaughters, Jennifer Merrill of Orrington and Jillian Merrill of Bangor, Teresa Quinn of Mobile, Ala., Tammy Clement of Corpus Christi, Texas, and Natasha Whiteford of Bradenton, Fla.; 13 great-grandchildren, Ashely, Braeden and Jordan, Krystal, Jessica, Porche, William, Erica, Mercedes, Cedric II, Desiree, Dominic and Brianna. He is also survived by several cousins, nephews and one niece. He was predeceased by one daughter, Barbara L. Brown of Bucksport; two brothers, Darrell Brown and Royce Brown, both of Newport; and two very special sisters-in-law, Abby Brown and Wealthy Brown, also of Newport. Visitation for family and friends will be held 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2004, at the Mitchell-Tweedie Funeral Home, 28 Elm St., Bucksport, where a celebration of his life will be held 3 p.m. Thursday, with the Rev. Burt Lowry, Pastor Ken Davenport and the Rev. Duane Stiles officiating. A time of fellowship and refreshment will follow the service at the Bucksport Church of God. Those who wish may make memorial donations in Warren’s name to the charity of one’s choice.