Obituary of Robert Brown

Robert Edward Brown was born July 18, 1933, the son of Roy and Sadie (Black) MacDonald and adopted son of Gurney and Bulah Brown. He graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 1950 and attended Iowa State University in Ames for one year. Robert enlisted in the United States Army on October 3, 1956 and served until July 12, 1958. His duties included being in the motor pool as well as a tour in Korea after the conflict. Robert was united in marriage to Sharon Louise Bowman on May 7, 1960 in Walker, Minnesota. He began his carpentry career working for his father at age thirteen in Coon Rapids, later moving to Longmont, Colorado continuing his carpentry career. In 1980, he moved to Alliance, Nebraska where he started a career as a sheet metal worker for Burlington Northern Railroad. He retired from the railroad in 1998. He moved to Lake Park, Iowa and continued his carpentry work until his illness. Robert enjoyed anything to do with woodworking and his family. Robert passed away July 17, 2010 at Sanford Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at seventy-six years of age. He is survived by his wife, Sharon; daughter, Sue and her husband, Brian Grabianowski; daughter, Cyndi and her husband, Jacob Zins; son, Daniel and his wife, Kim Brown; grandchildren, Crystal and Brandon Lewis, Brett and Amber Fricke, Jason and Jessica Brown; great-grandchildren, Samantha and Madalyn O'Clair; sisters, Betty Jo Smith and Betty Lydell; brother, Dean MacDonald. He was preceded in death by his parents, adopted parents; brother, Dan Monthei and a grandson, Lyle Fricke.