Dr. Lorin Brown

1920 - 2014

DR. JAMES "LORIN" BROWN Dr. Brown was born 9/26/1920 in Hanford, California, to James L. Brown, Sr. and Grace V. Fitzgerl. He grew up in southern California traveling to the Siskiyou Mountains every summer with his parents for prospecting. He attended Community College in the Hanford area before moving in 1940 to Annapolis, Maryland, to teach at a school for handicapped children. He returned to California to attend the University of California Berkeley where he earned his Bachelor's Degree in French in 1943. He excelled in foreign languages. During World War II, he was drafted into the Army and sent for basic training in Arkansas and sent for special language training in Louisiana for Russian. He deployed with American Forces to the Philippines, however the war ended before he saw combat. He returned to UC Berkeley and received a Doctorate in Romantic Languages. He worked for 10 years in the San Francisco US Customs office specializing in European Art. In 1964 he moved to Chico, California with a job at California State University Chico as a Professor in French. He was fluent in European languages in addition to Russian and Japanese. He stayed at CSUC until his retirement in 1991. He was remembered by the chair of the Department of International Languages, Literatures and Cultures as "gentle and unassuming, always shouldering his share of department tasks." He continued to live in Chico until his death, December 21st, 2014, of colorectal cancer. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister. His neighbors remembered his love of piano and his meticulous upkeep of his yard. He remained active until the end, driving to Ashland, Oregon, twice in the last year to attend Shakespeare productions. He read voraciously with books filling his home and a stack of Russian literature at his side when he died. He wrote a complete grammar of French that would contain in one place all of the idiosyncrasies of the language to a speaker of English. Special thanks to Enloe Home Health and Hospice for keeping Dr. Brown at home during his last months. Thank you to BrightStar Care for providing caring staff to be with him during his last weeks. Enloe Colorectal Surgery Clinic coordinated his care over the last years of his life. Bruise Funeral Home arranged his burial at Glenn Oaks December 31st.