Kenneth Lee Brown Jr., aged 81 of Barnesville, GA, passed away Thursday, October 24, 2019.
He was born on November 19, 1937 in Miami, FL to Kenneth Lee Brown Sr. and Murvin Virginia Bland. He spent his childhood and teenage years in Hapeville, GA where he attended Hapeville High School. He left high school to enlist in the Air Force where he served four years as an aircraft mechanic. During his service, he was based on Enewetak Atoll in the South Pacific with the 4951st Support Squadron where he participated in numerous Atomic Bomb tests as part of Operation Hardtack 1.
In 1959, he started a career at Southern Airways which later became Republic Airlines and eventually Northwest Airlines, now part of Delta. He had an enjoyable career there of 44 years in various roles including mechanic and powerplant production planning. Ken earned a Bachelors degree from Georgia State University and a Juris Doctor from the Woodrow Wilson College of Law. He was an avid history buff and owned a Civil War bookstore for many years.
He loved to travel and did so extensively with his former wife, Pat and son, Seth. He loved tennis and played in various leagues for nearly 50 years until Parkinson’s kept him off the courts. He moved to Fayette County in 1968 and remained until 2002 when he moved to Barnesville, GA.
Ken was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Barbara Jean Peck, former spouse Judie Patricia Morgan Ivey, and Nephew Mike Peck.
He is survived by his son, Seth (Daphne) Brown of Fayetteville; grandchildren, Isabelle and Anneliese Brown of Fayetteville, Lauren (Jason) McCuen of Shelby, NC, and Chase Simpson of Atlanta, GA; sister, Susan (Jerry) Lanier of Griffin, GA; and numerous cousins, nephews, and nieces.
A visitation will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 1:00 PM, followed by a service at 2:00 PM at Mowell Funeral Home in Fayetteville. The Rev. Dennis Watson of Harps Crossing Baptist Church will officiate. Burial will follow at Westminster Memorial Gardens in Peachtree City.
