Obit of Brown, The Rev. James Clark - Pittsburg County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 21 Jan 2007 Return to Pittsburg County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/pittsburg/pittsburg.htm ===================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ===================================================================== ::Daniels Chapel of the Roses FH--Santa Rosa CA Santa Rosa Press Democrat Published on July 16, 1998 THE REV. JAMES BROWN The Rev. James Clark Brown, who lent his strong ministerial voice to the cause of civil rights during 50 years in the pulpit, died July 6 in a Santa Rosa hospital after a long illness. He was 75. Brown marched with Martin Luther King in the 1960s and later spoke out for gay rights as a minister in San Francisco in the '60s and '70s. He also devoted his time to bettering the lives of the young and aged and in the 1960s was a delegate to the White House Conference on Refugees from Eastern Europe. "He was a person who very much wanted to voice his conviction that civil rights belonged to everyone in this country,` said his widow, LaVerna Brown. As a boy growing up poor in Quinton, Okla., during the Great Depression, his many odd jobs to help make ends meet included working at a radio station and delivering newspapers. He still managed to graduate from Phillips University in Enid, Okla., and then went on to the Yale Divinity School. Over the years, he rankled some members of his various congregations for his strong stands on civil rights, although he always had supporters as well. In 1965 he joined other clergymen in King's march from Selma, Ala., to press for black voting rights. He served churches in New Haven, Conn., Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., before arriving in San Francisco during the turbulent late 1960s. As leader of the First Congregational Church, he advocated gay rights, emphasizing that `we're all part of God's creation,` LaVerna Brown said. He marched in Sacramento, petitioning the Legislature to remove discrimination against homosexuals in the early '70s. His controversial stand led to three years of harassing telephone calls, but he held to his convictions. During the '70s, he worked with the Commission on Aging in San Francisco and helped establish the St. Francis Meal Program for the elderly. He also opened the church up to many self-help groups and set up a youth coffeehouse featuring music and comedy, where comedian Robin Williams got his start. Brown's community service won him a mayoral commendation in 1980. During those years, he came to Sonoma County every summer to serve as minister at Odd Fellows Park in Guerneville. Brown didn't move to Sonoma County full time until his retirement in 1989. He and his wife settled in Oakmont, but Brown continued to preach, serving as interim minister of churches in Stockton, San Rafael and Hawaii, and guest minister at many churches in Sonoma County. In his rare leisure hours he pursued history, poetry, music and theater. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, David Brown and his daughter Edith Brown, both of Santa Rosa, and his brother, Col. Robert M. Brown Of Virginia. A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. July 25 at the First Congregational Church in Sonoma. Private interment will be in Washington, D.C. The family suggests contributions to the Memorial Garden Fund, First Congregational Church of Sonoma, 252 W. Spain St., Sonoma. Daniels Chapel of the Roses handled arrangements.