"Bill" William Calvin Brown

"Bill" William Calvin Brown, 87, of Kerrville passed away on March 27, 2023, in San Antonio.

In 1943 he moved to Sterling, Colorado with his mother, Anne Hansen. This was shortly after her husband, Bill’s father Rex Brown moved to Ohio at the start of WWII. In 1953 Bill enlisted in the Marine Corps with five of his high school friends. While in basic training he did “rather well” with a rifle and joined the rifle team as it “seemed better than guard duty,” eventually competing at the national level. He became a platoon sergeant when stationed in Japan before being honorably discharged in 1956. “The best lesson I learned was…your people will do well for you if your instructions make sense to them.”

Bill spent most of his working career as a Program Manager at Control Data on aerospace defense contracts. He also made significant contributions to data processing and manufacturing control systems at IBM, Northrup, Diamond Phoenix, and the University of Wyoming. Bill worked at the Kerrville State Hospital for five years.

Bill married Margola Kaiser in 1958. They had two daughters, Paula and Gina Brown, before they divorced in 1965. Bill married Donna Arnstine in 1965 and they divorced in 1974. Bill credits meeting Leone Seeds in 1976 as “a major turning point in my life.” They were married in 1977. Leone’s two children, Linda and Scot Seeds were already adults, but gratefully credit meeting their stepdad Bill as a major turning point in their lives.

Bill’s work took him to many places including Minnesota, California, Wyoming, and Ohio before he
retired to Texas with Leone in 1998.

Bill was an active member in fraternal organizations including the Elks, the Moose, and the VFW. In 2013 an opportunity arose to establish a veteran’s center in Kerrville. Bill produced the paperwork to get it legally established as a non-profit and then served as Executive Director for three years.

Bill is survived by his children Gina Ash and Paula Talley; and stepchildren, Linda Runyeon and Scot Seeds.

 He will be laid to rest with his wife of 31 years, Leone, who predeceased him in 2008 at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of "Bill" William Calvin Brown, please visit our floral store.