CHARLES LEE BROWN

CHARLES LEE BROWN Charles Lee Brown left this world on July 30th 2025. He was born the son of Charles Leonidas Burney and Lois Genevieve Armstrong on August 8th 1932. Even then, families changed and before he was 5 years old he was adopted and raised by the father he knew, Omas Lee Brown and his mother Lois. C.L. (as he was known most of his life) grew up in Dallas riding his bicycle and the old street cars, throwing paper routes, and later attending Sunset H.S. where he was active in ROTC. C.L. was also active in Boy Scouts during this time with his childhood best friend, Howell Daly. After high school, C.L. thought he might try college, but shortly decided it wasn't a good fit at the time. He changed path and joined the Army where he served in the Korean War on the ground in the combat infantry during the Fall and Winter of 1951 until May 1952. Not long after his return to the States, he transitioned and joined the U.S. Air Force, where he served the balance of his 22-year military career, first as a small arms instructor and marksman where he was notably involved in the testing and review of the prototype development of the new M-16 rifle, then later as a pharmacy technician. In 1956 he met his wife of 64 years, Donna Jean Ussery, and they were married April 5th 1957, moving to Newfoundland with his career until shortly before the birth of their son, Charles Howell. The balance of his military career was spent mostly between Lackland AFB in San Antonio, and Perrin AFB in Denison, Texas, where they welcomed their son, Carlton Lewis. Retiring from the military in 1972, the family moved to Dallas Texas, and C.L. continued with his college education earning his BSN. Licensing as an RN, he worked while continuing that education to become a CRNA. Then in 1978, the family moved one last time to Denison, Texas, where he worked as a nurse anesthetist at Wilson N. Jones Hospital of Sherman until his final retirement in 1992. For most of his adult life he was an avid small game hunter and became actively involved with Ducks Unlimited preservation organization. At the new home in Denison, he became an active iris flower grower, even hosting as a stop for an annual Iris Society tour one year. A final hobby he took up after retirement was participating as a member of the Military Vehicle Preservation Association. He eventually owned, restored, and drove a Vietnam era military ambulance, and a WWII jeep which he marked up with Korean War signage, as it reflected his time in the Army where he first learned to drive, at all, in such a vehicle. During the late 1960s, C.L. was assigned a short tour in Ankara, Turkey, where he fell in love with the history of the region, exploring as much as he could when off duty. He later in life made two more trips to the area, to continue to see and appreciate the changes and what he remembered. It was during the 1990s he started to be refered to as Charlie Brown by colleagues. He was attending the reunions of Perrin military personnel, and by 2003 became a founding member of the Perrin AFB Historical Museum located at the now North Texas Regional Airport, Perrin Field, in Denison. He was invited and hosted as a commemorative ambassador to South Korea for two anniversary celebrations. He was also an invited attendee for the dedication of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. "Charlie" is preceded in death by his parents, his wife, and his only grandson, Aidan. He is survived by his sisters, Jeanette Ruffing, Cathe Green, and Laura Longmire, and his brother, Gilbert Brown, and his two sons. The family asks in lieu of flowers, any donations be made to the Perrin AFB Historical Museum in his name. Rest in peace and power.