James Edgar Brown

James Edgar Brown, 88, passed away peacefully on Friday, October 25, 2024 in Toccoa, Georgia. 

Jimmy is survived by his loving wife of 26 years, Cynthia Dillon Brown of Toccoa; his former wife Nell Brown of Montgomery, Alabama; his children, Bethany Nell Brown of Montgomery, Alabama, James Edgar Brown, Jr (Leslie) of Birmingham, Alabama, Susan Brown Trusty (Kane) of Bozeman, Montana, and Mary Williams Smith (Russell) of Toccoa; his grandchildren, Jeb Brown (Ensley), Carter Brown, Sims Brown, Maggie Smith and Ben Smith; his sisters, Mildred Ann Hatten of Sumrall, MS and Beverly Cox (Ricky) of Vancleve, MS; his brother Jackie Brown of Sumrall, MS; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews. 

He was the son of Mildred “Dolly” Wilson Brown and Jack Andrew “Spec” Brown. He was born on September 13, 1936, in Durant, Mississippi. His family moved to Hattiesburg, Mississippi, when he was a young child and that is where he spent his formative years. He graduated from Hattiesburg High School in 1955 and received his B.S. in Recreation and Parks Administration from the University of Southern Mississippi where he was a member of the Golden Eagles baseball team. Jimmy spent 37 years in Parks and Recreation serving as the Director of Parks and Recreation in Hattiesburg (1961-67), Decatur, Alabama (1967-73) and Montgomery, Alabama (1973-1998) where he retired. After his retirement from the Parks and Recreation field he worked for 17 years as a sales representative for Qualite Sports Lighting in Georgia.  Throughout his accomplished career he was involved in many professional and volunteer organizations. He served as President of the Recreation and Parks Associations in both Mississippi and Alabama and was a former member of the Stephens County Recreation Parks Board in Toccoa. He was also very involved in the promotion of youth and amateur athletics having served as President of the Board of Trustees of the Blue-Grey Association and Blue-Grey Football Classic, National Commissioner and Life Member of Dixie Boys Baseball, and Board of Directors of USA Baseball just to name a few. He was a devoted member of St. Matthias Episcopal Church where he served on the Vestry and as Hospitality and Stewardship Chair and volunteered for the Neighbor 2 Neighbor Food Pantry.

Jimmy Brown was a dearly loved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, cousin, brother and friend.  He was humbly committed to excellence in all pursuits and loved any opportunity to brag about his family and friends. His family loved to brag about him too, and was so proud of him. His life was blessed in so many ways but the blessings that he gave others were truly immeasurable.  Heaven received a great one on Friday, but he will be dearly missed so many on this earth.

The Memorial Service will be held Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 3 p.m. at St. Matthias Episcopal Church with a reception to follow. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Matthias Memorial Fund, 995 East Tugalo St., Toccoa, 30577; Camp Toccoa at Currahee, P.O. Box 193, Toccoa, 30577; or CASA, 11 N. Sage St., Toccoa, 30577.

Acree-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory is in charge of the arrangements for James Edgar Brown.