Kenneth Waldo Brown

Kenneth Waldo Brown, 94, was called to his eternal home on Wednesday, February 28, 2024.  He was surrounded in his last days by his loving family and friends.

Kenneth was born in Broxton, Georgia on May 10, 1929 to Bascom Ethridge Brown and Thelma Bullard.  Together they had six children; two boys and four girls.  They moved around as needed for work and such, teaching their children lifelong values and good work ethics.  

Ken joined the United States Air Force and proudly served his country.  He was able to go places and travel the world, making lifelong friends and memories along the way.  We so enjoyed the many movies and photographs he took and the stories about them.  It seemed his favorite was the time he spent on Johnston Island.  He would tell it in ways that made you feel you were there with him.  Ken always talked about how much he loved his time in the service.  He retired from the Air Force in 1967, completing more than 20 years of honorable and faithful service.

After Ken  retired, he went to school for computer science and got a job at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi.  He eventually became their Director of Data Processing and Computer Services.  He co-wrote, from scratch, the college’s first financial automation program.  He worked there for many years, retiring in March of 1997.  

Over the years, he made many good friends who became his work family and who were still checking up on him to the end.  

He so enjoyed hunting and fishing in his day.  He was on a list where names were drawn to go on different hunts in the state of Texas and it seemed he would get picked all the time.  Those were some of his favorite times.

In the last 10 years of his life, he and Lina had many adventures.  They loved dancing on the weekends, traveling to see family and friends for holidays and weddings, and making beautiful memories on their three Alaskan cruises.  He had always wanted to be stationed in Alaska when in the service and that just never happened.  But he finally made it. 

Ken and Lina attended Jackson Woods Presbyterian and made it their church home. His life was a full life.

Kenneth was preceded in death by his parents, Bascom and Thelma Brown; two sisters – Betty Bowden and Peggy Sears; his brother, Jerry Brown; his niece, Marie Bowden Newsome; and grandson Clint Davis.

He is survived by his companion and best friend IdolinaVidaurri; his children, Bill (Vicki) Gillespie, Ken (Stephanie) Brown, Kim (Mike) Davis and Kalista (Terry) Cook; his two sisters, Roxie (Ray) Jackson and Edith Brown; his twelve grandchildren – Jason Gillespie, Megan Lyttle, Justin Gillespie, Katie Fuller, Olivia Jones, Walker Brown, Tyler Davis, Steven Emerson, Chad Emerson, Jenny Wimpee, Kevin Emerson and Ashley Cook; thirty great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews and other family and friends who love him and will miss him dearly.  

Ken was lovingly cared for by family and friends along with the amazing Care Team from  Kingsville Hospice. 

Pallbearers will be Caleb Vidaurri, Mike Davis, Terry Cook, Tom Graham, Dustin Blalock, Bryan Blalock; honorary pallbearers will be Bill Gillespie, Michael Coleman and Wayne Coleman.

Visitation will begin at 10:30am on Monday, March 4, 2023 at Sawyer-George Funeral Home. Funeral service will follow immediately at 11:30am. Graveside with Military Honors will be at Coastal Bend State Veterans Cemetery at 1pm.

***at the families request, please disregard the auto-generated suggestion of flowers below and consider making a donation in lieu of flowers, to either Tunnel 2 Towers (T2T.org) or the Wounded Warrior Project (woundedwarriorproject.org).