Obituaries

August 11, 1930 to October 28, 2021

WINAMAC - Richard Ray Brown, 91, of Winamac, passed away, Thursday, Oct. 28,  at Hickory Creek Healthcare in Winamac, following a brief illness.

He was born Aug. 11, 1930 in Medaryville, to the late Harry and C. Ferrell Freeman Brown. On Dec. 11, 1955, he married Eleanor L. Strand in Winamac. She passed away July 9, 2002.

Richard Brown

He is survived by:
Linda L. Brown, Monterey, Daughter
Melvin R. (Belen) Brown, Monterey, Son
Larry R. Brown, Monterey, Son
John Ray Brown and Justin Michael Brown, Twin Grandsons
Dillon Nonato Brown, Grandson
Lola Lauder, Oxford, MI, Sister
Leonard L. Brown, Rochester, Brother
Many Nieces and Nephew

Preceded in death by:
Donald D. Brown, Brother
Phyllis P. Kreamer Pownall, Sister
Harold H. Brown, Brother
Jerry L. Kreamer, Nephew
Darl R. Kreamer, Nephew
Donald D. Brown Jr., Nephew

Mr. Brown’s family relocated from Medaryville to Ripley, when Richard was six months old. They lived in and operated the Ripley grocery store and gas station. At the age of nine, Richard took his first job weeding mint (11 cents an hour) for Art Gumz. He attended Ripley School (through the eighth grade) as well Ripley Gospel Chapel. He worked in construction and helped build the Ripley Gospel Church building and the Memorial Chapel at Culver Military Academy in Culver. In 1950, he went on the wheat harvest in Kansas; hopping trains to get there (from Logansport to Wickenburg, AZ to Kansas City, KS). He began his 41½ year career with the Erie-Lackawanna-Conrail Railroad in 1951 and retired in 1992. He served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. In 2014, he was proud to take part in an Honor Flight to Washington, D.C. He was a loving and devoted husband, father, grandfather, friend, and church-member. He was a longtime member of Pleasant Hill Lake Bruce Community Church at Lake Bruce where he served multiple terms as trustee. He enjoyed traveling as well as playing Pinochle and Euchre. He also especially enjoyed tinkering and supervising at the farm. He was a well-known storyteller with a sharp mind until his last day. He was truly one-of-a-kind and will be sincerely missed by many.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 3, at Frain Mortuary in Winamac. The funeral service will be at 11 a.m., Thursday, Nov. 4, at Pleasant Hill Lake Bruce Community Church at Lake Bruce. Burial will be at Winamac Cemetery (McKinley Addition) in Winamac. The American Legion and VFW will conduct military graveside services.

Memorial donations may be made to Pleasant Hill Lake Bruce Community Church.

Online tributes may be made at www.frainmortuary.com.