Kenneth Delano Brown

1939 - 2017

Born August 24, 1939 in Stidham, Oklahoma to Orville Freeman Brown and Opal Elsie Redding Brown. Freeman went into the Army during WWII, Opal and the children moved to California along with her parents, her sisters and their families during the Dust Bowl days. They originally lived in Arroyo Grande, later settling in Bakersfield and Arvin.
Kenneth went to Haven Drive Elementary and would have graduated from Arvin High School in 1957 but he quit school in his sophomore year. He worked various agricultural related jobs before working for Bear Mountain Fence Company, obtaining a Fence Contractor License. Later he worked for a soil testing company as a technician in construction areas.
In 1961 he married Louise Woods and they lived a very happy 55 years together, raising 3 children, Robert Brown, Linda Perkins, and Barbara (Jeff) Marshall. Their union was blessed with 10 grandchildren, Tyler (Sarah) Perkins, Kelsey (Andrew) Cates, Amanda (Kevin) Kirkpatrick, Shelby Perkins, Kayleigh Marshall, Hank Brown, Hannah Marshall, Andy Brown, Abbey Marshall and Parker Marshall, and 3 great grandsons, Brantley Cates, Ezra Brown, and Caleb Kirkpatrick. Besides his wife, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, He is also survived by his dear brother Thomas Brown and many loving nieces and nephews.
Kenneth was known as the Candy Cane Man. In the sixties Kenneth and Louise began making Candy Canes with friends and family. Over the years as the children and grandchildren grew, so did the number of batches of Candy Canes each year. Thousands of boy scouts, girl scouts, church groups and community groups have made Candy Canes at the Browns home in the past 50 years. Kenneth started taking his candy making on the road, traveling to local schools and making them with the grandkids classes. Being a cancer survivor, Kenneth was involved with Relay for Life and even took the Candy Cane fun to the relay for a few years.
He was preceded in death by father Freeman Brown, mother Opal Brown, daughter Mary Louise Brown, great grandson James Jolly, and sister Joyce Barton.
Kenneth passed away Thursday, March 9, 2017. He will be laid to rest at Hillcrest Memorial, March 17, 2017, at 2:00 pm. Visitation, March 16, 2017, 5:00-8:00 pm.