Gordon W. Brown 11/2/2020

Gordon Wesley Brown, 84, passed away on Monday, November 2, 2020 at the Iowa Veterans Home. There is a private family ceremony at Riverside Cemetery scheduled Thursday Nov. 12th. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to the Semper Fi Fund or Unbound (formerly CFCA) are appreciated. Anderson Funeral Homes in Marshalltown has been entrusted with the arrangements. Online condolences may be sent to www.andersonfhs.com Gordon was born in Marshalltown in 1936, son of Ronald W. and Bernice E. Brown (nee Anderson). He survived several childhood accidents here: At age 10 he fell through the ice into the freezing cemetery pond, but was saved by a passing motorist. At nine he was hit by a car suffering a head injury. He would later remark 'he was a little slow as a result'; he remembered waking up in the hospital and "realized he wasn't as smart as he used to be". He wasn't joking, but it amused his family as he was still too brilliant to lead an easy or simple life. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1958 and worked in Intelligence. Afterwards, he went to Iowa State to graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in...[more]

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66, working at Fishers during the summers. He lived in California for 30 years with a successful career as an Aerospace Engineer, having worked on several space programs (Skylab, Viking) and designing advanced systems, such as the precision-guided weapons that surprised Americans during the first Gulf War. He retired to Marshalltown in 1994. He later worked at JBS for several years until 2011. Gordon joins his second wife Janyce Brown (nee Diggins) who passed away in 2011. He is survived by two sons, John and Dennis, of Sugar Hill GA and Riverside CA, and two grand-daughters, Julie and Joanna. His brother Dennis Brown and extended family still reside in and around Marshalltown.