Joseph Charles Brown went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, November 11th, 2018, at 11:30 in the morning with his wife Nancy and daughter Emily by his side. He was 89.
A Southern gentleman, Joe was born in Birmingham, Alabama, October 1, 1929, to James Samuel Brown and Gussie Mae Martin Brown. Three years later, Joe was joined by his much beloved sister Sue. With a love for music all his life, at the age of nine, Joe was chosen to become a member of The Apollo Boys’ Choir, with whom he toured the South for the next three years, singing at the funeral for the father of Tallulah Bankhead, where the young Joe actually got a memorable peek at President Roosevelt. Delighting in language, Joe graduated from Phillips High School in Birmingham in 1948 where he had taken Latin for four years and painted in Art Club. After serving in the Navy for three years during the Korean Conflict, Joe was talked into attending Baylor University by his sister Sue, who is also responsible for introducing him to his sweet heart, her good friend, Nancy Sue Crozier. Their first date was thanks to Sue’s persistent prodding to get Nancy to ask Joe out for the Baylor tradition of Corrigan Weekend. Nancy was running late, but thanks to Joe’s patience, they made the last number at the Waco Hall Music Concert, “The Pines of Rome” by Respighi. Not a patient man, Joe found himself waiting for Nancy for the next sixty-four years. To the enjoyment of his daughters, he often bid the wait by playing “Deep Purple” or “Fragments” on the piano, but, thank the Lord, he did not wait to marry her. The couple married seven months after their first date on Sept. 3rd, 1954. Settling in Birmingham, while Nancy taught piano in their home and for Sanford University, Joe worked with his father in the family business, Brown School, Church, and Art Supply. Among the joys of their married life, Joe and Nancy joined others as founding members of Vestavia Hills Baptist Church, there in Birmingham. After their daughters Emily Elizabeth and Amy Loretta arrived, Joe changed careers to join his wife in college teaching so that he would have more time with his family. In 1968, Joe and Nancy moved to Bolivar, Missouri, to both join the faculty of Southwest Baptist University, where Nancy taught in the Music Department and Joe in the English. A patron of theater and the arts, Joe relished leading his students on study trips to Europe during Southwest’s January Terms. Their Bolivar years were greatly enriched by lifetime friendships in Southern Hills Baptist Church, where Nancy served as the church organist and Joe sang bass in the choir. When Emily married Chuck Jansen and Amy married Doug Sonheim, Papa Joe took the three couples to New York City to attend Broadway plays and ring in the New Year, a testament to Joe’s deep love for his two son in laws, Chuck and Doug.
After retirement, Joe and Nancy moved to Springfield, making many new friends at University Heights Baptist Church. They loved being closer to their four granddaughters Claire Alexandra, Maddy, Caroline, and Alice Rose, and they loved getting visits from their two grandsons Joe Henry and Will Hayes. What made Joe’s retirement his golden years was being able to chauffer around, cheer on at sporting events, and laugh around the table with his six grandchildren. He learned to text to keep up with them. Papa Joe was as supportive of his grandchildren as he was of the persons whom they chose to love. Joe and Nancy mutually enjoyed their retirement by giving generously to multiple local and global charities and by attending Springfield Symphony, MSU Tent Theater, and The Pioneer Sunday School Class of University Heights Baptist Church, the latter for whom Joe brewed coffee for almost fifteen years.
Joe is survived by his wife Nancy of Springfield; daughter Emily (Francis Jansen) of Springfield; daughter Amy (Doug Sonheim) of Arkadelphia, AR; granddaughter Claire (Jess Landes) of Dallas; granddaughter Madeline Stewart of Dallas; grandson Joseph (E.B. Sonheim) of Grand Rapids, MI; Caroline Jansen of Fort Worth, TX; Will (Abby Pajakowski) of Chicago, IL; Alice Jansen of Brooklyn, NY; his sole sister Sue Mosely of Wichita, KS; and two nephews Robert Mosely of Dallas, TX, and Mark Mosely (Jane Farha Mosely) of Wichita, KS.
Visitation will be held from 10:00-11:00 AM Saturday, November 17, 2018 at University Heights Baptist Church with services following at 11:00 AM. Burial will be at 3:00 pm in Greenwood Cemetery, Bolivar, Missouri under the care and direction of Greenlawn Funeral Home East.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be given in his name to the English Student Scholarship at Southwest Baptist University, Bolivar, Missouri, memo line to read Joe Brown or to the music ministry at University Heights Baptist Church.