Harry A. Brown Jr.

Harry A. Brown, Jr.
April 15, 1980- September 24, 2024
Harry A. Brown, Jr., 44, of Pipersville, PA, died suddenly due to a cardiovascular event on Tuesday, September 24, 2024. He is survived by his wife, Megan A. (Ritter) Brown, children, Gwyn Bartholomew, Emma Brown, and Oliver Brown, his father, Harry A. Brown, Sr., sisters Kim Brown Dupuy and Jennifer Dauza, his nieces and nephews, his father in law, David L. Ritter, brothers and sisters in law, and colleagues and friends who will feel his loss forever. His beloved dog, Gizmo, and cat, Vivian, will miss him too. He was predeceased by his mother, Ann (Lange) Brown, and his mother-in-law, Lauren (Graybill) Ritter.
Harry was born in Abington, PA on April 15, 1980. As a child, he enjoyed going on RV camping trips with his parents, often to visit his sisters in Louisiana. He had a pet pony and was a proud Boy Scout. He and his father enjoyed participating in pinewood derbies and making models together. He was extremely close to his mother; they were two peas in a pod who did everything together. She even taught him how to sew on a sewing machine. He attended Central Bucks East where he played the tuba in the marching band and Bucks County Technical High School where he studied welding. He loved his time at Vo Tech. As a young adult, he was an EMT and
volunteered for many years at Plumsteadville Volunteer Fire Company. He enjoyed working on their annual roast beef dinner fundraiser.
Nearly all of Harry's working life was spent at Jim Jacobs Towing & Garage Company, where he worked as a tow truck operator and heavy duty recoverer, often getting up in the middle of the night to help a stranded driver, and frequently traveling across the country as part of his job. He loved trucks and Peterbilts and seeing America along the way. He had a goal to take his truck to all 48 contiguous states and only had 3 states to go. As part of his job, Harry sometimes found himself at tragic accident scenes and he worked professionally alongside fire personnel and law enforcement to handle such scenes with dignity, compassion, and respect.
Harry looked forward to going to work every day, but he even more so looked forward to coming home to his family. His first marriage produced his beautiful daughter, Emma, who he loved to play with when she was little and hang out with as she entered her teenage years. Last year, they had a father-daughter day where Harry taught Emma some ice skating techniques. Harry was a great ice skater and could do a full spin and jumps. He and his wife, Megan, began dating in 2011 and married in 2013, at which time he became a dedicated stepfather to Gwyn. Just last week Harry detailed the car so that Gwyn could "drive around in style" when she was home
visiting from college. Harry and Megan later welcomed their son, Oliver, and their family was complete. Harry and Oliver loved to spend time together outdoors, especially hiking. Harry also enjoyed kayaking, snorkeling, swimming in lakes, and diving for mussels (even though he didn't eat them). He loved summer trips to Maine, annual visits to Washington, DC, and scary movie nights at home on the couch with his wife, children, and pets. Maine was incredibly important to Harry and Megan; they loved the quiet peacefulness and beautiful greenery of the state. They hoped to own a cabin there someday together. He enjoyed helping Megan with a greenhouse
garden, and as she recently began nursing school, he was excited to use his former EMT knowledge to help her study.
Harry loved four-wheeling, riding his recently acquired moped, celebrating the holidays, tinsel and colored lights on Christmas trees, Zebra Cakes, Pepsi (in a house of Coke lovers), mashed potatoes, Taco Bell and a good Chinese Buffet. He had an uncanny ability to talk to anyone about anything. He asked interesting questions and he listened to answers. He wasn't just waiting to interject his own thoughts - he wanted to know what other people were thinking. In his line of work, he met people from all backgrounds and experiences but he treated all of them equally. He was on a job with a friend once that took them to a movie set in New Jersey. He had a nice chat with a few people there and only afterwards did his friend say, "Hey, did you know that was Brad Pitt you were just talking to?" Harry was so down to earth, he didn't even mention it to Megan for a couple of days.
When you read about the sudden death of a younger person, a person who still had dreams to fulfill and people to love, a dedicated and loving spouse and father to young children, there are many hard questions and few easy answers. So, we will all have to wait and hope that he is somewhere beautiful with his loved ones who went before him and that the love his family has for him will sustain them in their grief. And we can leave with you, the two most important lessons we learned from Harry. First, always strive to do the right thing. He lived an honorable life and always strove to do what was good, right, and just. Even to the point that his integrity annoyed people with shakier moral compasses! Second, be yourself. Accept yourself. Love yourself. Harry accepted other people fully and wanted them to be themselves, especially his family. At birth, his son, Oliver was actually named Cooper, but when he was seven Ollie said, "Nah, not for me. Call me Oliver." And Harry went with it, without even a blink, because he wanted his kids to be themselves. He was incredibly proud at the end of August to go with
Oliver for the legal name change proceeding before the court. It was the first time he ever found himself in a "real courtroom" and Harry thought it was so cool. Harry embraced the people he loved and would want the same for everyone he encountered.
The family will receive their friends at the Varcoe-Thomas Funeral Home, 344 North Main Street, Doylestown, PA 18901 on Monday, September 30, 2024 from 8:30-10:30 am, with a service to begin at 10:30 am.
Interment will follow in Doylestown Cemetery, Doylestown, PA.
In lieu of flowers, please assist the Brown family by donating to https://www.gofundme.com/f/harry-a-brown-to-support-his-family-after-their-tragic-loss
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