Gregg Brown

My beautiful brother, we miss you so very much. On Sunday, September 19th we lost a son, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and friend to many. Gregory Edwin Brown age 53, of Austin, Texas, passed unexpectedly last Sunday from an ongoing battle of addiction and mental illness. 

For many years, he fought a heroic battle with addiction, unfortunately, it held a powerful grip on him from a young age. Gregg wanted nothing more than to live a successful, happy life without fear and pain. His family and those closest to him wish he had recognized his brilliance, value, strength, and huge heart that we saw in him.

Gregg’s biological parents, James and Mary Brown had both passed by the time he was 8 years old. By the age of 14 Gregg was in Foster Care. It was at that time, he was welcomed with open arms into our parents, Don and Sharon Arnold’s home. He immediately became their son, and our brother.

 

Our dad took him under his wing and taught him things that all young men should know. Gregg read at our father’s funeral saying that, “When no one else wanted to take in a troubled teen, you choose to do so without a second thought. Your guidance, direction, love, praise and discipline will never be forgotten.” 

He and mom had the best times in the kitchen, where they could laugh and joke as she watched Gregg cook with ease and a natural ability to make anything taste phenomenal. He formed a bond with the rest of us kids like most siblings do; relentlessly teasing and picking on one another, but no one else could. Gregg fit seamlessly into our Dynamic Six and made it the Unforgettable CJ Seven.

Gregg was a 1984 graduate of Carl Junction High School and from there went on to become an exceptional businessman throughout the years. He had several successful businesses and enjoyed making new friends along the way. In his free time, he enjoyed keeping up with politics, traveling, sports, and being outdoors – especially fishing with his grandpa as a child. He was always the life of the party and could invariably find a way to make you laugh. 

Gregg is survived by his three beautiful daughters Ashley, Dalas, and Taya and seven grandsons. He is also survived by his mother Sharon Arnold, his sisters Cheryl Smith, Kim Eddy, and Amanda Robbins, and his four brothers Mike Frizzell, Brad Arnold, Kenny Arnold, and Chris Arnold. Additionally, Gregg is survived by many nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.

Addiction is merciless and does not care who you are. Gregg’s loss is devastating, but he would not want us to cry for him. Gregg would want us to use our lives and voices to fight for others in his memory by bringing awareness to addiction and mental illness. 

Our family will have a private burial for Gregg, however, we ask that if you feel lead to do so please make a donation in Gregg’s memory to one of the following organizations: Jasper County CASA at https://jascocasa.org/, The Lazarus Recovery Center, 1102 West 9th Street Joplin, or American Foundation for Suicide Prevention at https://afsp.org/