Bob Brown

Bob Brown passed away on February 21, 2021 at his home in Seminole, Oklahoma. Bob (from west or east of town-depends on your perspective) was born with a head of brown hair on October 31, 1944 in big “D”- Duncan Oklahoma to Verna Mae Brown and Clairon Glenn Brown.  He told the story of being born with clubbed feet and his mother praying for him, telling him there was an angel at the foot of her bed, and when they awoke together, his club feet had been healed.  From that point forward, Bobby Brown was sold out to Jesus.  He was very much a young prankster, scaring, pinching and sticking folks.  He soon found out that the adults no longer invited him to come along on their adventures.  He decided to give up the pranks but anyone who knew him understood, he only gave them up temporarily.  During his high school years at Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City, Bobby Brown was named Mr. FBLA (Future Business Leader of America) and as Mr. FTA (Future Teachers of America) encouraged his fellow classmates to bring an apple to school for their teachers. He went out for football in his Senior year.  Capitol Hill was in the playoffs and were playing in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.  Though Bob never got to play, he was able to travel with the team there for the game. He remembered stories of seeing many hit groups like the Platters, Chubby Checker and more from the late 50s and 60s at the Civic Center in Oklahoma City.  He was even able somehow to be backstage when some of the groups were getting ready to sing.  He acquired an unbelievable collection of 45s of which many young people were jealous.  However, when he attended a revival in downtown Oklahoma City, his whole life changed. Once his heart and spirit had been captured by the Lord, he wanted nothing to do with those 45s and threw all of them in the trash.  When he would talk about those groups later in life, he would fondly remember being there in person but never wished he had those 45s back.

Bob was always entrepreneurial in spirit but worked for a salary at Western Electric, Main Pro, ARCHEM, and then legitimately became self-employed, buying and selling surplus equipment to businesses, schools and individuals.

Bob has always been a catcherman, not a fisherman. He loved nature, wildlife, his daughter called him a wildlife rescuer and animal whisperer.  He fed baby squirrels, turtles, raccoons, and brought home more dogs than a person could count.  No matter where you were going, he could tell you the weather, the cloud content, the geography of the land, and anything important that happened as you were driving by.  Then he would just go to the next item.  He was an unofficial tour guide to anyone who was with him. He loved to treasure hunt with a metal detector, to hunt arrowheads and mostly any kind of natural minerals in the rock formations.

Bob and his young family attended church in Oklahoma City where they met Ronnie and Linda Fritch.  When the Fritches moved to the Shawnee area, Bob and his family moved to Bethel Acres.  Bob was a deacon at the Bible Temple Church for many years.  He also attended the Evangelistic Center in the Shawnee area.  Later he attended Tri City Christian Center, Covenant Life Church, and then Fresh Bread Fellowship all in Seminole.

Bob had 3 children, Robert Paul Brown, Brenda Ann Brown, and Sheila Renee Brown. Both Robert Paul and Brenda had many health problems. Robert Paul passed away in 1974 and Brenda in 1984.  Sheila was born in 1973.  She married Vince Boswell in November of 1994 and they have five children Hannah 25, Hazel 23, Brody, 17, and Lola and Dovie, both 9.

In 1995, Bob met Denise Mawhirter of Oklahoma City at no place else other than an OUHSC surplus auction and all the rest is history.  They were married on March 7, 1998.  They resided in Bethel Acres until 2005 when they moved to Seminole to be closer to the Youth group they were leading at Covenant Life church and then Fresh Bread Fellowship. Bob never met a stranger and he never met a young person that he couldn’t connect with.  He would tell them that after Dick Clark, he was the oldest teenager in America.  Many times, the teenagers didn’t even know who Dick Clark was or what to think of Bob but before they knew it, he had engaged their interest and was telling them about the love of the Lord specifically for them.

In 2017, Bob and Denise, with the help of the Lord, opened Highway 9 Antiques east of Seminole on Highway 9. The opening of this business was a culmination of a dream Bob had had for many years and from the point of purchase to this date, the business has been dedicated to the Lord.

Bob was proceeded in death by his maternal grandmother, Mattie Walters and grandfather Jim Walters; his paternal grandmother, Grace Brown and grandfather EC Brown; his mother Verna Mae Walters Brown, and his father, Clairon Glenn Brown; his son Robert Paul Brown and daughter Brenda Ann Brown.

Funeral Services for Bob will be at 2:00 p.m., Friday, February 26, 2021 at the Swearingen Funeral Home Chapel in Seminole with Max Mawhirter officiating. The service will be streamed live on the Swearingen Funeral Home Facebook Page. Burial will follow at Little Cemetery, north of Seminole. Following the burial there will be a fellowship at the Brown home.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home in Seminole, Oklahoma.