Michael Harrison Brown

Michael Harrison Brown, passed away peacefully in the early morning hours of July 17, 2025, at The Kelly House in Evansville, Wisconsin after a brief and intense battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mike was born in Seattle, Washington on November 28, 1943, to Iris (Hoops) and James Brown, the youngest of four. James and Iris had moved the family to Washington to work in the shipyards during World War II where they helped to build liberty ships. When the war ended, they moved to Wisconsin where James had been born and resettled there. The marriage didn't last much longer and eventually, Iris remarried, and Willis Krause became a fixture in the lives of Mike and his siblings. During his early years, the family moved often and Mike spoke of attending 13 schools over the course of 12 years of his early education.

After graduating from Albany High School in 1962, Mike proudly served in the US Air Force as an X-Ray technician, working in military hospitals over the next four years in places like San Antonio, Texas, Cheyenne, Wyoming, and London, England. In 1966 he left the Air Force and returned to Southern Wisconsin where he married the love of his life, Margaret Louise Coole. He then served as a police officer in Monroe, Wisconsin for 13 years, rising to the rank of sergeant, left the police to return to school at Beloit College where he received a BBA and eventually started working as an inspector for the Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture where he finished his career.

Mike was an animal lover, especially dogs and horses. He was rarely without a pet dog in his life, and he delighted in watching the Kentucky Derby and the other legs of the Triple Crown races every year and was a lifelong fan of the Green Bay Packers.

Mike is survived by his children William, Stephen (Gwyn Kawski), Cathleen (Ross Weter), and Michael (Julia Rich), his grandchildren Scott, Jax, Damon, Emily, David, and Thomas. He is preceded in death by his wife Margaret, his mother Iris, his father James, his step-father Willis, his sisters Barbara Morris, Clydella Flynn, and his brother James.

A Celebration of Life will be held from 10:30 AM to 12:00 PM on Friday, August 1, 2025, at Ward-Hurtley Funeral Home, Evansville, Wisconsin, with a burial service at Hillcrest Cemetery in Albany, Wisconsin immediately after. In lieu of flowers, the family encourages donations to cancer research and hospice care. Ward-Hurtley Funeral Home, Evansville is assisting the family. For online condolences please visit www.wardhurtley.com