John Brown

John Francis Brown, of Dothan, AL passed away Sunday, November 25, 2012 at a local hospital.

The family will receive friends from 5 – 7 pm Friday, November 30, 2012 at Sunset Funeral Home, Dothan AL.

John was born in Texas where he was the first of two boys. He graduated from Virginia Polytechnical Institute VPI, now known as Virginia Tech, with an Associate in Arts Degree and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He honorably served as an Aviation Machinist Mate in the United States Navy Reserves. In the 1960’s and 70’s he worked as a mechanical engineer for NASA. He worked on six of the Apollo launches including the historic Apollo 11 launch. John and his family moved to Dothan, AL in the early 1970’s so he could work on construction of the Farley Nuclear plant. After the construction on the nuclear power plant was completed, he spent a majority of the remainder of his career working in international locations such as Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and New Zealand. In 2000 after retiring from his “regular job”, he became a Red Cross volunteer. As a National Red Cross Reserve member & a member of the Wiregrass Area Chapter, he traveled all around the United States as a member of Red Cross Assistance Teams deployed in the wake of many disasters. Some of the events he responded to include spending nearly four months near Ground Zero in New York City after the 9/11 disaster and providing relief in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In 2008, he switched his community involvement from the Red Cross to other charitable agencies, such as the Dothan Food Bank and the Catholic Charities.

Survivors include his wife Sally Brown; a son, John Christopher Mechelle Brown; daughters, Stephanie Brad Coy, Stacey Don Bishop, adopted son Carl Linda David; 9 grandchildren, Chelsea Rae Josh Cormier, Rebekah Brown, Katherine Brown, Brandy Tiege Trimm, Brittany Bishop, Sarah Bishop, Emily Bishop, Christopher David; 5 great-grandchildren: Ty McMillan, Donna Trimm, Zoe Trimm, Ellie Bishop and Braylon Cormier; his younger brother, Stephen Brown and numerous nieces and nephews.