Obituary of David Leland Brown

Dave Brown slipped off into the wild blue yonder peacefully, pain free and surrounded by his family on Sunday evening, December 8th, 2019. A quiet, humble and compassionate guy, Dave was always willing to help a friend or stranger in need. He volunteered to help out whenever and wherever he could, at various times delivering Meals on Wheels to seniors and shut ins, or helping out at the Waterfront Blues Festival, or helping to prepare food for needy families at Ronald McDonald House, and Oregon Food Bank. Born in Berkeley and raised in Castro Valley, CA to Fern and Ray Brown, Dave was a Boy Scout and spent a happy childhood in the Bay Area. He went to many concerts in San Francisco in the 1960s, and one of his fondest memories was shaking Janis Joplin’s hand after a concert at the Fillmore Auditorium. In 1968, he was drafted and subsequently joined the US Navy, training to be a jet mechanic. Dave served on the flight deck of the USS Ranger aircraft carrier during the Vietnam War and was stationed at Whidbey Island NAS in Washington from 1968 – 72. His time in the Navy during the war shaped how he was to live the rest of his life: as a pacifist who lived a life of compassion and service to others. After his Navy discharge, he went back to school, studying photography at Citrus College in Southern California and at San Francisco City College, where he met Jane Russell, a fellow photography student and soon to be soul mate. Dave and Jane went on to work together in the printing industry in San Francisco, eventually starting their own graphic design and photography business after the birth of their first child, Matthew, in 1980. Their daughter Caitlin was born in 1984, and Dave and Jane were married in their back yard in San Francisco in 1986. In 1991, they moved to Portland, OR, where Dave began volunteering at Hopewell House Hospice. He found his calling there and became a CNA, taking care of patients at the end of their lives with compassion and love for 11 years. After years of enduring a number of serious health issues, Dave was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in May of 2019. He is survived by his wife, Jane Russell, children Matthew and Caitlin Brown of Portland, OR and Stuttgart, Germany, his sister Karen DeSantis of Rochester, NY, as well as many nieces and nephews. A private celebration of Dave’s life will be held for family and friends at a future date. Any donations in Dave’s honor may be made to Paralyzed Veterans of America (www.pva.org), Street Roots (www.streetroots.org), or the ALS Association (www.alsa.org).