Richard Brown

Richard Brown, age 57, of Milbank, SD, died on Sunday, November 19, 2023, at Milbank Area Hospital – Avera Health.

Memorial services will be held on Saturday, November 25, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at Living Word Lutheran Church in Milbank, SD. Visitation will be held on hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday with a luncheon immediately following.

The service will be livestreamed and recorded and will be viewable at the bottom of this page.

Richard Steven Brown was born on August 12, 1966, in Milbank, SD, to Robert and Joyce (Beck) Brown. He grew up in Milbank and graduated from Milbank High School in 1984. Richard then went on to attain a bachelor’s degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences from South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD.

Richard was united in marriage with Dianna Struve on July 7, 1991. Richard then attained a master’s degree in zoology from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada and a doctorate in biology from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.

After his studies, Richard and Dianna moved to Richland, WA, where they had two children. Richard worked as a senior researcher at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Richard wrote 120 publications with over 4,600 collective citations. He also travelled to a variety of countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Italy, Laos, Thailand, and New Zealand.

In 2017, Richard retired from his job due to health issues and moved to Milbank to help his family, where he remained until his passing.

Richard is survived by his wife, Dianna; children: Jacob and Cole Brown; brother, Joseph (Carla) Brown of Gretna, NE; sister, Jennifer Brown of Milbank, SD; father, Robert Brown of Milbank, SD; four nephews; and other extended family members and friends.

Preceding him in death was his mother, Joyce Brown.