Clyde Harold Brown

Clyde Harold Brown was born in Pittsburgh PA on June 12, 1949.
He passed away on February 28, 2026

Clyde was the first of three children born to Rosemarie Brown and Clyde H. Brown, Jr. He had the same name as his father, so the immediate family and cousins called him Butch. He lived in Pittsburgh until he graduated from High School and joined the Navy in the fall of 1967. He served during the Vietnamese War for 4 years working in electronics and completed two tours in Vietnam and took immense pride in his service always wearing a Vietnam Veteran baseball cap. After his honorable discharge he continued to work repairing electronic equipment. In 1973 he accepted work with Bendix Corporation, tracking satellites on Ascension Island in the South Atlantic Ocean. He stayed for one year and returned to the U.S.

During these early years he satisfied some of his love of travel going to Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam. He continued to work in technology and then returned to Ascension Island in 1978, again working as part of a Spacecraft support team where he met his wife, Linda Elser Brown, who was also working as an Electronic Technician. They both traveled attending 2 months of training in Bermuda, vacationing in Antigua, St. Lucia, West Indies and traveled home to visit family in Pittsburgh and Maryland. Clyde was from Pittsburgh through and through, he had the accent and worshiped the Steelers football team.

They moved to Columbia MD in the fall of 1980 and were married in the Fall of 1981. They worked in spacecraft support at Goddard Spaceflight Center. Clyde worked at the NASA console for Shuttle Launches and Linda was part of a team that maintained and built support equipment. Their wedding was delayed due to the first Shuttle launch schedule being bumped repeatedly. The honeymoon was also delayed but it was an exciting week in the Bahamas on a 32-foot yacht.

Clyde’s personal life stayed intriguing as he purchased his first Harley Davidson Motorcycle. They started their motorcycle adventures with a trip from Maryland to Upstate New York, over 400 miles, in a hurricane to help friends move. He made a few trips to Sturgis North Dakota for the annual bike week, which is required for any true biker. They took many local trips in addition to excursions to Michigan and Pittsburgh PA to visit relatives. Family was a priority in his life. He loved his 2 sisters, his in-laws and all the nieces and nephews, and children in general, but something was missing.

Linda and Clyde could not have children so in 1988 they adopted a son, Jason. Clyde was a nurturing and involved parent, encouraging Jason in his love of sports and Clyde was readily available for the many trips and stays in the hospital due to Jason’s acute asthma. He helped run Tadpoles for 2 years, a Church run Father/Son weekly meeting. He also assisted with homework. Any parent will tell you helping with homework takes courage.
He continued his own education with many college courses in addition to professional classes offered by his employer, along with engaging in self-study and became a talented computer programmer working as a NASA contractor in Spacecraft support. He held the title of Systems Analyst and was always top in any class. He received many accolades for his work but the one award from NASA presented at Cape Kennedy, now Cape Canaveral stands out, he accepted his award, met the astronauts and viewed a launch as his father proudly stood by as a witness.

In 1990 he became a member of the Vietnam Vets Motorcycle club which gave him a brotherhood that meshed his war time experience with his love of motorcycles. He continued his travel and drove over 100,000 miles as a part of the club. He looked like a biker with a full beard and a full belly. That allowed him to play Santa.

He played Santa Clause frequently but as his full beard turned white it seemed all he needed was a red T-shirt and kids would stop dead in their tracks with amazement assuming he was Saint Nick himself. He would always ask, “Are you being good?”

He loved children, family, dogs, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, music and serving his country. Whether you called him Clyde or Butch he was that person you would always remember and that person you could count on to be there and make thing happen. You are missed!

A celebration of life for Clyde H. Brown will be at Cedar Grove Mennonite Church, 13343 Williamsport Pike, Greencastle, PA 17225 on Saturday, March 21, 2026 at 1:00 p.m.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Clyde H. Brown Jr. and Rosemarie Brown. He is survived by his wife Linda Brown, son, Jason Brown, sister, Susan Shaner and her husband Danial Shaner, sister Marlene Brown, sister-in-law Jeanne Elser-Frank, and brother-In-law Theodore E. Elser, Jr. in addition to seven nieces and two nephews and 17 great nieces and nephews.