Vance Brown

JONESBORO - Vance Allen Brown, Sr. of Jonesboro, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his wife and children on Aug. 10, 2025 at the age of 93. Born in Osceola, to W.T. and Betty Irby Brown, they moved to Jonesboro shortly afterward where he lived most of his life.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce Ledbetter Brown of 39 years, his children Brenda Hester (Sam), Dr. Steve Modelevsky (Teri), Vanessa Russell (Tom), Valerie Sills (Chris) and Vance Brown, Jr.; stepsons, Mark Ledbetter (Jeri), Michael Ledbetter (Debbi), Drake Ledbetter, and Steve Childress. He is also survived by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He graduated from Jonesboro High School in 1950, where he played running back for the Jonesboro High Golden Hurricane football team and developed a lifelong passion for football, especially watching his two sons and also his grandsons play in Jonesboro rarely missing a game. During his later years, you would also find him watching college football on television.

He was drafted into service with the U.S. Army toward the end of the Korean War in 1953, where he went to Engineer Training and stationed in Korea as a water supply specialist for two years, all before graduating from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in 1959, and was a member of the Lambda Chi fraternity. After college, he married and lived in Memphis where he and former wife, Martha Lindley Brown, started and managed Brown's Laundry & Dry Cleaners and several coin operated laundries for 13 years. Moving for a slower pace, his family bought a home and 14 acres in south Jonesboro in 1973, where they enjoyed years with friends and family hosting pool house and poolside gatherings. During this time, three of his children were able to grow up on the same property that back then was considered more in the "country", but later became his final business endeavor, the development of Brownstone Subdivision.

During his final 39 year marriage to Joyce, they enjoyed going dancing, dining, and traveling to their house at Lake Norfork. She was a dedicated caregiver, and their relationship defined true teamwork until the very end.

He most cherished the times when he was surrounded by his family and friends and will be remembered by his cheerful and good-humored personality.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his two brothers, twins Harwell Brown and Hartwell Brown, twin grandsons Chase Allen Brown and Connor Vance Brown, along with a stepdaughter, Patti Ledbetter Wright.

A short visitation will be at Gregg Langford Bookout Funeral Home on Monday, Aug. 25, at 1 p.m., followed by a memorial service at 2 p.m. The family will receive visitors after the service at the Ledbetter-Brown home at 510 Dogwood Lane, Jonesboro.

The family would like to thank St. Bernards Home Hospice staff for their care and support during the past few weeks.