Thomas Allen Brown

March 9th, 2015

Thomas Allen Brown was born in Moulton, Alabama on Oct. 28th, 1933 in his parents’ home on their farm. He was born a trimester premature, weighing less than two pounds. He could fit in the palm of his mother’s hand, and was not expected to survive. Because of that, he was called “Tiny” for several months, a nickname that he kept for the remainder of his life. He was the son of Jim and Mabel Lee Brown. Always helpful to his parents and other family members, he grew up to be very responsible and dependable. He was the one everyone could count on. Thomas had three sisters and five brothers: Purcell, Waddell, Nellie Mae, Katerine, Doris Jean, Melvyn, and Robert. Thomas was very accepting and supportive of his family. He was perceived as the central person in his family in terms of emotional and financial support. Whenever a financial crisis arose, Thomas would go the extra mile, including getting a second job to support his family. He regularly sent home money to support his younger siblings and mother. As a child, Thomas had the ability to find amusement with almost any activity he and the many childhood friends he shared might discover.

One of his closest friends was also his older brother, Waddell. Several activities that he and his brother enjoyed were hunting, fishing, and Boy Scouts. They and the other neighborhood boys would often go on camping trips with their Boy Scout Troop. During his high school years, his favorite subjects were history and math. His favorite teacher was Miss Marshall. He played the trumpet and coronet in high school band. After graduating from high school in 1951, he joined the Army in 1952. He and his older brother went through basic training together. Two years after he joined the Army, he married the love of his life, Edna Box, in Corinth, Mississippi. They would remain married for over 55 years, until her death in 2010. He was assigned to the Army Base in Bepu, Japan, in 1955. They lived there for a little over a year, and their oldest son was born there. He always referred to this time as one of the happiest in his life. Thomas became a paratrooper and

Joined the 101st Airborne, also known as “The Screaming Eagles”, located in Fort Campbell,  Kentucky. He made Warrant Officer in 1966, and was sent to Vietnam that same year. He won a trophy in Saigon for Beach Volleyball. In Vietnam, he was stationed in Saigon, where he received the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medal. After returning from Vietnam, he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division in the Administration Section in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The family moved to Staten Island, New York, in 1968. He worked in Manhattan, where he was a military investigator. In 1971, Thomas and the family moved to Las Vegas, where he where he worked as Special Agent for the Defense Investigative Service for the Department of Defense. His job involved performing background checks on candidates for top-secret security clearances for the Nevada Test Site. He was the first African American in the state of Nevada to have a TS/SCI Clearance, also known as Sensitive Compartmented Information Clearance. He retired from the Army in 1975. He worked in the Security Department for Sears and Robuck for two years, primarily at the Boulevard Mall, until he became a narcotics agent for the Nevada State Division of Investigation. He enjoyed being an undercover narcotics agent, and worked for the Division of Investigation until his retirement in 1997. He loved baseball and was an avid fan of the Padres, the A’s, and the Angels. He enjoyed fishing and spending time with his family. He also enjoyed playing poker, and won more often than he lost. He wanted to set a positive example for his children as to the importance of getting an education, so he went back to school and got several degrees. He had two AA Degrees in Business and Communication from Community College of Southern Nevada. He also received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in 1987 from the University of Nevada – Las Vegas. Thomas was a very loving parent who was willing to provide his family with many new and interesting experiences. Road trips and other travel were a regular part of the Brown household. For Thomas, parenting was a particularly enjoyable and pleasurable part of his life. He enjoyed playing games and listening to music with his family, often dancing and singing in the living room to the Temptations, Al Green, Otis Redding, Sam Cooke, B.B. King, and Aretha Franklin. Because of his love of music, every activity, from chores to bedtime routines became a game in the Brown household. Thomas was blessed with five children, Thomas Lafayette, Gwendolyn, Garry, Renee, and Sherry. He and his wife were also blessed with six grandchildren, Nicole, Kayla, Amy, Thomas “Tony”, Carly, and Tyler. In 2010 he was also blessed with a great-grandchild, Preston. Because Thomas loved to have a broad variety of activities in his life, he took advantage of the opportunity to pursue numerous hobbies. His favorite pursuits were coin collecting, fishing, playing poker, attending sporting events, and barbecuing. Many people in the community looked to him for advice and support over the years, particularly on the Westside, the community he lived in for over 40 years. He passed away on March 9th, 2015, at Valley Hospital, leaving a hole in the hearts of all who loved him and looked up to him. He died of heart failure, the result of an acute blood infection. He is survived by his oldest son, Thomas, and oldest daughter Gwendolyn, both of Lake Tahoe, Calif.; and youngest daughter, Sherry, of Thousand Oaks, Calif. Services were held at Palm Mortuary on Main Street on Monday, March 16th. Graveside service was at the Palm Mortuary on Eastern. Thomas was always willing to share his support and wisdom gained from his countless life experiences with loved ones, friends, neighbors, and people in need. The truly fortunate in life were the ones lucky enough to call him husband, father, brother, uncle, grandpa, friend, colleague, and neighbor. They know what a blessing it was to have Thomas in their lives. Thomas “Tiny” Brown will be remembered with love and gratitude by countless people. He lives on in our hearts forever.