John H. 'John Brown' Brown

John Brown was born June 11, 1944 and grew up on a farm north of Cheyenne, OK that was homesteaded by his Grandfather in 1889. He graduated from Ponca City High School. He attended Oklahoma State University, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Zoology, and an MBA with a major in Finance. Upon graduating from OSU, John entered the U.S. Army in April 1970 and volunteered for training with the elite U.S. Army Special Forces. John was selected for this very unique training and was awarded the coveted Green Beret in April 1971. Upon completion of his Special Forces training, he received orders to report to Vietnam. Prior to shipping out to Vietnam, John's orders were changed and he was deployed with a group of Green Berets and Navy Seals on a secret mission to train Turkish and Greek soldiers in the fine arts of guerilla warfare. Upon discharge from the Army in April 1972, John returned home to Ponca City where he met and married the absolute love of his life, Melissa (John's words!). Melissa has been a rock beside John through their entire life together, especially the last few years. Chris was born in 1976 and Andy followed in 1979. Chris is married to Shawnna, and Andy is married to Megan. All of them have been great supporters of John and Melissa through John's illness. Granddaughter Lilly, Chris and Shawnna's little girl, has been a ray of sunshine. Lilly loves her Mimi and Papa. Elliot Ann Brown joined our growing family on January 15, 2010. John began his banking career in January 1974 and concluded his career at UMB Bank in Oklahoma City. UMB has been very supportive of John throughout his illness. In April of 2001, John was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. After 110 chemo treatments, he underwent a donor bone marrow transplant on Oct. 2, 2009. His donor was his sister Dorothy, who came from Paris, France to make her precious donation. John and Melissa remained in Dallas for nine months during the transplant, where he went through many life threatening situations. He and Melissa returned home and continued their long journey until January 7th, a Friday afternoon, when John passed away unexpectedly. Funeral services will be held at the United Methodist Church of the Servant on January12, 2011 at 10 a.m. Burial will be at Floral Haven Cemetery in Tulsa, OK at 2:30 p.m. Memorials may be made to Church of the Servant's Care Ministry, or the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in John's name. John was preceded in death by his father Lance Brown. John is survived by his mother Aileen, and his devoted wife and caretaker Melissa; his son Chris and wife Shawnna, their daughters, the light of John's life , Lillian and Elliot Ann; his son Andy and wife Megan; siblings Dorothy, his generous bone marrow donor, her husband Rachid; sister Betty; sister Marilyn Coates and husband Vic; and his brother Don. Also surviving are six nieces and nephews.