Samuel Brown

Former Ottumwan Samuel Burr Brown, 88, passed away peacefully on February 6, 2021, in his apartment in West St. Paul, MN, with his daughter by his side. Burr had lived in Ottumwa for 60 years before moving to Minnesota in 2018 to be near his son's family.

Burr Brown was born at home in Smithland, IA on February 4, 1933. He was the eldest child of Samuel C. Brown and Charlotte E. Brown and named after his grandfather. His father S.C. Brown was a small town school superintendent, principal and teacher in northwest Iowa. The family spent summers working on his grandparents' farm in Roscoe Township, Davis County, IA. In 1939, his father S.C. took over the farm and they moved to Davis County. In 1944 the farm was sold and S.C. went back to teaching in northwest Iowa.

Burr graduated from Salix High School in 1951 and began college in the fall. In 1953 he went into the US Army, serving in the Military Police at Fort Huachuca in southern Arizona. After his army service, Burr returned to the University of Iowa in 1955. He was united in marriage to Kathleen L. Grim in Pulaski, IA on August 12, 1956.

In 1958 Burr and Kay moved to Ottumwa where Burr went to work as an Industrial Engineer in the John Deere Ottumwa Works. Burr and Kay raised son Michael and daughter Cherie in Ottumwa. A few years after Kay's passing Burr moved to Minnesota.

Over the years in Ottumwa, Burr was active in the Jaycees, YMCA Y's Men and Kiwanis service organizations as well as the First United Methodist Church, and later the Willard Street Methodist Church. Burr's love of history led him to the Ottumwa Civil War Roundtable and the Wapello County Historical Society in his later years. Burr was also an avid gardener and had a garden at every home, including a 5 gallon bucket garden on the balcony of his Ottumwa retirement apartment.

Burr loved people and saw a familiar face wherever he went in Ottumwa. He loved time spent with his family and the Brown & Grim extended families. Burr and Kay combined their loves of family, travel and history traveling around most of the United States visiting Civil War sites, National and State Parks and extended family.

Burr was preceded in death by his wife Kay, his parents, his brother Craig W. Brown & sister-in-law Donna Brown and brothers & sisters-in-law Roger Lofgren, Bill & Chris Clark, Bill Grim and Ed & Mary Haworth. Burr is survived by his son Michael, (Linda), daughter Cherie (Bill Ladas), grandchildren Alyssa and husband Ryan Schmidt, Julia and husband Andrea Ferrero, Elizabeth Brown, Anthony Ladas and Katie Ladas, and great-granddaughter Liliana Ferrero. Burr is also survived by sister Carol Lofgren and sister-in-law Marjorie Grim and many nieces and nephews and their families.

Private family services will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, February 12, 2021 at Sinnott Funeral Home in Ottumwa with Pastor Chris Childs officiating. Interment will follow in Ottumwa Cemetery. A live stream link is below for people to view that are unable to attend services. Memorials may made to a charitable organization of choice or the American Battlefield Trust, an organization dedicated to the preservation of Revolutionary and Civil War battlefield sites.

Click here to watch Samuel's funeral service live stream