Info/Obituary - Gary A. Brown
Died 8 November 2023
Comments: Eric Brown (son) and Gary Hatfield
Obituary
Gary Arthur Brown - September 21, 1934 — November 8, 2023
Sun Prairie, WI - Gary A. Brown Sr, age 89, passed away on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at Agrace Hospice. He was born in Chicago on September 21, 1934 the son of Stuart and Emily Brown. Gary grew up in Hessville, Indiana and graduated from Bishop Noll High School. He married his high school sweetheart, Jeri Mauger, in 1953.
Gary enlisted in the US Army in 1955. After two years of serving in the infantry, he graduated from Officer Candidate School and transferred to aviation. He completed one tour in Korea and two tours in Vietnam, starting with flying fixed wing aircraft and transitioned to helicopters during Vietnam. Gary served his country proudly and honorably for twenty years achieving the rank of Major. Service awards he earned while in the Army included: The Bronze Star with an Oak Leaf Cluster and the Air Medal with 15 Oak Leaf Clusters.
Following military service, Gary received his small engine repair certificate from MATC and enjoyed working as the head mechanic for A to Z RentAll for 18 years. Gary was a devoted member of St. Albert the Great Catholic Church, a longtime BINGO caller for St. Albert and the Knights of Columbus, and was one of the volunteer managers at the Round Table. He was an avid Cubs fan and enjoyed fishing, bowling, camping, and playing racquetball. Gary was fond of technology and had fun coding and creating new games.
Gary is survived by his wife of 70 years, Jeri; four children, Gary (Michelle) Brown Jr., Julia “Jill” (George) Gruetzmacher, Lisa (Perry) Tilley, and Eric (Lisa) Brown; nine grandchildren; Madison Brown, Katarina Brown, Jonathan Brown, Garrett Gruetzmacher, Eric DeAngelo, Michelle DeAngelo, Sean DeAngelo, Kirsten (Danny) Petrzelka, and Stuart Brown; eight great grandchildren; two sisters, Elizabeth Benjamin and Maryann Lynn; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; grandson Kyle DeAngelo; and sister Phyllis Sprong.
A Mass of Christian Burial was held on Tuesday, November 21, 2023 at 10:30 AM, immediately followed by a luncheon at Saint Albert the Great Catholic Church, 2420 Saint Albert the Great Drive, Sun Prairie, WI.
Our family extends a special thank you to the staff of Agrace Hospice and Hyland Crossings. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made in Gary’s name to Agrace Hospice Care Inc.
Please share your memories of Gary by posting in his Guestbook.
Cress Funeral Services - 1310 Emerald Terrace, Sun Prairie - (608) 837-9054
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Gary Arthur Brown, please visit our flower store.
Eric Brown (son): He retired from the Army in 1975 after serving 20 years. His last rank was Major, last duty station was Truax Field in Madison Wi.
One of his last things in the service was to help create and start a program called “Friend in the sky” it was a joint effort with the State of Wi and the Huey pilots from Madison that on holiday weekends when the interstate system was heavily traveled, the Hueys would be available on short notice to do medivac’s from a crash to the hospitals. On some weekends they even patrolled the interstates in WI. This was the first incarnation that eventually became “medflight” that now does the same thing.
Gary Hatfield:
I was in VN with Gary. He and I flew mostly Slicks and did many missions together.
Mostly we did not fly together as we were normally the aircraft commander, we usually had a Lt or a warranty officer flying with us.
I can tell I thought he was a good guy and a good aviator and a really great person around the company.
As we were the the first troops in the area we had so many other jobs to do to get the area up and running and secure. We and our troops dug ditches, filled sand bags, took care of our aircraft and our weapons. We also had to pull our turn on the perimeter during the night. We had bunks in tents and were always trying to keep them clean and the bugs and rats away from the sleeping area.
We went through the rain/ monsoon period, the really hot time and the time when it was just not fun.
Your dad flew missions every day and many times several, a day as we all did.
I know that he left our unit at some point and I can not tell you when. We had lots of our initial group of people move to other units so that there would not be a complete rotation of the Centaurs at the same time. We go a new in country and another unit got some one that had in country experience.
I cannot tell you how they Ade the selections. I know whoever got Gary got a really able pilot and a really good officer.
Russ Catania and Mike Banks remember him well.