Raymond Wesley Brown
September 1, 1927 ~ December 3, 2022
Raymond Brown, 95, died on Saturday, December 3, 2022, at the Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.
A Memorial Service will be 5pm, Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at Bethany Meadows Community Room, Brandon, SD.
Raymond’s family asks that you consider a gift to Bethany Lutheran Foundation in his memory. Gifts may be sent directly to:
Bethany Lutheran Foundation, 3008 E. Aspen Blvd. Brandon, SD. 57005 Please include “Raymond Brown memorial” on the memo line. Gifts may also be given online at: https://www.mybethanyhome.org/foundation
Raymond Wesley Brown was born on September 1, 1927, to Alva and Edna (Rittenhouse) Brown in Kent, MN. Ray grew up with his four siblings on the farm in Barnesville, MN. His older brother, Robert, and he took jobs at neighboring farms. When Robert tragically lost his arm in a corn picker, Ray finished his and his brother’s career; giving all earnings to Robert. The school was too important to Ray and he graduated from Wolverton Minnesota High School. At the age of 18, he joined the Navy in the final years of World War II. On leave from the Navy, he visited his sister Rose, where he met her business school roommate, Marilyn Morse. Ray and Marilyn married in 1952 in Casselton, North Dakota, and immediately moved to Billings, Montana, where he was working for Armor, buying cattle. Ray and Marilyn’s three children were born in Montana.
Opportunity at the Sioux Falls, SD Stockyards moved the family to where Ray eventually started his own cattle-buying business. At home, Ray was the grill master – cooking up burgers and steaks to accompany Marilyn’s good cooking. Ray appreciated “pretty country,” traveling west on family vacations and attending reunions. In retirement, Ray worked part-time at Walmart in several departments, even mixing paint. Amazingly his color blindness did not interfere. In 1997, Ray and Marilyn moved to Bella Vista, Arkansas, and enjoyed 23 years of playing golf, cards, and many excursions with their church shepherd group. They loved hosting their kids and grandkids where Ray would drive through the winding, hilly roads of Arkansas to wonderful destinations, and in the evening, show his card shark skills. A good time was had by all! To be closer to family, they moved back to South Dakota to Bethany Meadows, then Bethany Home in Brandon.
Grateful to have shared his life are his wife, Marilyn; three children, Brenda (Chandler) Garrison, Barbara (Kim) Kusch, and Bradley (Marleen) Brown; ten grandchildren; and numerous great-grandchildren.
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