ROCKPORT, Ky. — Earl “Ray” Brown, 89, passed away Thursday, Sept. 19, 2019, at St. Vincent’s in Evansville. He was born Sept. 15, 1930, to Bert and Mabel (Taylor) Brown of Chiggerville, Kentucky.
Ray retired from Peabody Coal’s River Queen Surface Mine and was a member of Local 1178 UMWA. He enjoyed spending time working on his vehicles and tending his garden.
He was resourceful, the kind of person who fixed problems, was quick with a joke or story to tell and was always surrounded by laughter.
As the years went on his warm smile became a toothless grin; his family finds comfort in knowing that he is now tinkering in a workshop with his buddies Neal and Jim that have gone home before him.
In addition to his parents, Ray was preceded in death by siblings, Margaret and Cecil Hunley Brown; nephew, James “Jim Bob” Brown; and his wife of 61 years, Wanda Ezell Brown.
Ray is survived by his children, Kelly Brown and Lugenia (Mike) Sapp; grandchildren, Lee Sapp, Katie (Junior) Staggs, Aaron (Erica) Brown, and Travis (Caitlin) Brown; great-granddaughters, Savannah, Sophie, and Scarlett Staggs; brother, Glen “Bobby” Brown; and nieces and nephew, Vena Cardwell, Debbie James, and Bobby Joe Brown.
Funeral services will be 1 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at Bevil Bros. Funeral Home in Beaver Dam, Kentucky. Burial will follow in Hopewell Cemetery near Echols, Kentucky.
Friends may visit with the family from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. Monday and from 9 a.m. until funeral time Tuesday at the funeral home.
Online condolences may be made at bevilbrosfuneralhomes.com.