Brown

J. Robert Brown, 90, of Forest Mere Circle died at 8:55 p.m. Sunday in Butler Memorial Hospital after a brief illness.

Born Nov. 13, 1917, in Morgantown, W.Va., he was the son of Matthew A. and Elizabeth M. Williams Brown.

Mr. Brown was a member of the Calvary Presbyterian Church, serving as a ruling elder, trustee and a Sunday school teacher. He served on the steering committee of the Butler Valley Young Life and was a member of the Butler Christian School Committee. Mr. Brown was a leader of the Lafayette Building Bible Study, a member of the Crossfire Steering Committee and a member of the Calvary Church Christian Daycare Board.

He graduated from Westminster College, and from Carnegie Tech, now Carnegie Mellon University, with a degree in management engineering. Mr. Brown started his career with the U.S. Steel Co. in Youngstown as the assistant chief planning engineer and assistant chief engineer of construction borough. He then went with the Spang & Co. in Butler, starting as the chief engineer and advanced to vice president in 1958, to executive vice president in 1963 and to president of Spang &Co. and Spang Industries Inc. from 1968 until his retirement in June 1976.

Mr. Brown was director of the Butler County Family YMCA, and trustee and past president, assistant chairman and secretary of Butler County Memorial Hospital and head of the building committee. He was director of the Butler County Easter Seal Society, the Butler County United Way and the Butler County Symphony Association. Mr. Brown was a member of the Butler Chamber of Commerce, BPOE and the Butler Country Club.

Mr. Brown was the past director of Tri-State Industrial Association, a member of the Newcomen Society of North America, a registered professional engineer in Ohio, member of the Association of Iron and Steel Engineers and a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was on the advisory board of Union National Bank, chairman of the advisory committee of the court house and member and treasurer of the Butler Gathering Core Committee.

Mr. Brown is listed in the "Who's Who in America" and an honorary member of Theta Tau and Kappa Phi Lambda, which was later Sigma Nu. Mr. Brown enjoyed golf and was the leader of the Dirty Dozen golf group. He also enjoyed gardening and music, piano and organ, and enjoyed composing and poetry.

Although he excelled in both civic and business endeavors, he always felt his greatest blessing was his loving marriage of 67 years to his beloved Jane and his unconditional love of his two daughters, Rebecca Jane and Judy and his son-in-law Jack Barkley.

Mr. Brown is survived by two daughters, Rebecca Jane Camlin of Mount Lebanon and Judy and Jack Barkley of Butler; three granddaughters and their husbands, Heidi and Bob Vandrak of Harmony, Heather and Mike Sullivan of Chesapeake, Va., and Jennifer and John Ivory of Gibsonia; one grandson and his wife, Jay and Jennifer Barkley of Gibsonia; nine great-grandchildren; Julia, Jane, Bobby, Stephen, Andrew, Emily, Ella, Katie and Erin; and by several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Brown was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 67 years, M. Jane Brown, who recently passed away April 5, 2008. They were married Sept. 21, 1940.

<B>BROWN </B>— Friends of J. Robert Brown, who died Sunday, April 13, 2008, will be received from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the <B>Thompson-Miller Funeral Home</B>, 124 E. North St. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in America with the Rev. H. Curtis McDaniel of Westminster Presbyterian Church in America officiating, and also retired Pastor L. Michael Winship officiating. Entombment will follow in the Chapel of Devotion, Butler County Memorial Park.Contributions may be made to the City Rescue Mission, 319 S. Croton Ave., P.O. Box 965, New Castle, PA 16103-0965 or to Seneca Hills, P.O. Box 288, Franklin, PA16323-0288.Information and a private guest book are available at www.thompson-miller.com.