Jeffrey Brown

Jeffrey Alan Brown, 62, of Austin, Texas, the son of Elaine Brown of Brenham, died February 18, 2014 in Chappell Hill from complications as a result of esophageal cancer. Jeff was born June 2, 1951 in Lawrence, Kansas and spent the first part of his youth growing up in the Kansas City, Kansas area. When Jeff was 13, his family moved to Houston, Texas where he completed his high school education in 1969. He graduated from Texas A&M University in 1975, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Animal Science. After graduation from TAMU, Jeff worked briefly for Swift Meat Company in Guymon, Oklahoma. Following his sense for wanderlust, Jeff backpacked across much of the United States and several countries in Europe, eventually spending 2 years in Cape Town, South Africa. After returning to the USA, Jeff enlisted in the Oregon National Guard, completed Basic Training at Ft. Knox, KY, and earned the Outstanding Soldier Award in his Company. He eventually returned to Texas and continued serving in the Texas National Guard. In the early 1980''s, Jeff began his career with the State of Texas and had a rewarding career in workforce development and job training and was able to retire after 25 years of service to the residents of Texas. During this time, He volunteered with the Austin Family Eldercare program where Jeff became the legal guardian of an elderly woman who had been abused and abandoned by her family. After he retired from the State of Texas, he volunteered to help with demolition and clean-up work in Galveston after Hurricane Ike in 2008. After the 2011 hurricane in Haiti, he joined a group with Habitat for Humanity to help build housing for homeless victims of the hurricane. Jeff returned to Haiti in 2012 and again in 2013 to help build schools and houses, to work in orphanages and schools, and to study the principles of sustainable living. He had hoped to relocate to St. Croix, USVI, to be closer to Haiti so he could continue his humanitarian work there. Jeff was also an amateur stone sculptor, oil painter, handyman, and jack-of-all-trades. His interests were diverse and he was always looking for the next challenge. Jeff is preceded in death by his father, Richard A. Brown. He is survived by his mother, Elaine Brown of Brenham, TX, his brother and sister-in-law Jerry and Kitty Brown of Chappell Hill, TX; his sister and brother-in-law Marianne and Tom Rogers of Holland, TX; his aunt, Emy Darville of North Little Rock, AR; cousins, nieces and nephews and their families, and amazing friends and colleagues from Austin and all over the world. Toward the end of his life, Jeff finally found peace and fulfillment in the understanding that Love is the Answer. Jeff requested that memorials be given to Habitat for Humanity, the Capital Area Food Bank or Family Eldercare both in Austin , Doctors Without Borders, or Hospice Brazos Valley.