Obituary of Gary Brown

Gary Owen Brown of Camrose passed away on Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at the age of 72 years. Born November 25, 1940 in Chatham Ontario, Gary was an only child raised by his mother Hazel and his step father John Brodie until he moved to Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta in 1958 to live with his father Claire Brown, his step mother Echo and his step-sister Sharron. Gary attended Fort High with Sharron where he easily fit in with his always friendly and gregarious nature - he even became the only male cheerleader at his high school! In 1959 Gary decided to follow in his father's foot steps and go into barbering - attending the Molar Barber College in Edmonton. Barbering was a natural vocation for Gary, with his innate ability to talk to anyone and to make them feel liked and comfortable. In 1960, Gary married Donius Stebbins in Edmonton. Gary and Donius had been long time friends and had dated in Chatham. They became proud parents of two sons, Dwayne born in 1962 and Kevin born in 1964. Kevin was born with cerebral palsy and because of this Gary would eventually serve on the Board of the Robin Hood Association for the Handicapped in Sherwood Park. Gary was also very proud of his grandchildren Claire (1990) and Alex (1999). Gary barbered for many years in various barbershops in Edmonton (literally cutting thousands of people's hair), until he opened his own shop at Westmount Shopping Mall in 1981. Over the years Gary also worked for a short time at the University of Alberta in their central stores warehouse order desk and he also took night classes in business and administration at NAIT. Gary always kept busy, never standing still for very long. In order to spend more time with his boys he became a Scout Master and Venture leader for over 10 years in the 70's. Gary also really enjoyed teaching Round Dancing in the late 70s with Donius, which also gave him a creative outlet. As life evolved, Gary and Donius decided to go their separate ways in 1982, which allowed for a new chapter in Gary's life to unfold when he met Maurina, appropriately enough, on the dance floor at Danny Hooper's Stockyard. They married in 1984 and later that year, their daughter Dorina was born. Gary sold his barbershop in Edmonton and began selling barber and beauty supplies moving to Camrose in 1989 to be more centrally located to his territory and it was in Camrose that Gary, Maurina and Dorina proudly made their home. In the mid-90s, Gary underwent surgery that left him unable to drive long distances and so he went back to work barbering as well as began working at Family and Community Services as an in-home worker. His work at FCS afforded him the opportunity to enjoy 11 years as an Educational Assistant with Battle River School Division, working at Bashaw School, Charlie Killam School and PACE Outreach School. While at PACE, he was given the nickname "Downtown Gary Brown", a name he was proud of and often introduced himself as! Gary served on the board of the Camrose Arts Society, including four years as President. He was passionate about the arts in Camrose. He supported the Chuck McLean Arts Center, emceed various stages at Jaywalkers Jamboree and emceed Music on Main. Gary had a vision that Camrose have a Performing Arts Centre and worked tirelessly toward that goal; he was thrilled when ground broke. He was a long-standing member of Camrose Toastmasters and judged 4-H speech contests for several years. Around 2005 Gary realized a long time dream of opening his own dance studio and "Dance The Floor" offered everything from Ballroom to Salsa. He particularly enjoyed his Music and Movement class with infants and toddlers. While the last few months had not been kind to Gary, health wise, he continued to barber and dance, two activities he truly loved. Left to celebrate his life are his wife Maurina and daughter Dorina, sons Dwayne (Ottawa) and Kevin (Sherwood Park), grandchildren Claire and Alex (Ottawa), and cherished family and friends. A funeral service was held on Friday, August 30, 2013 at 1:00 p.m. from Bethel Lutheran Church (4102 73 Street)Camrose, with Rev. Kristian Wold officiating. Inurnment will take place at a later date. Memorial contributions are gratefully accepted to The University of Alberta Performing Arts Center in memory of Gary Brown.