Obituary of Richard Brown

Richard M. "Rick" Brown, 79, of 44 W. Fairwood Dr., Lakewood, died Wednesday morning, March 11, 2015 in his home. He was born November 29, 1935 in Gowanda, NY, a son of the late Louis R. and Ruth Morley Brown. Rick was a 1953 graduate of Jamestown High School. He received his BS in Physical Education from Ithaca College in 1959 and his MS from Ithaca in 1967. He also served in the US Navy from 1959 to 1960. Rick worked as a physical education teacher at Falconer Central School in earlier years and later, Southwestern Central School, retiring in 1992. He coached Southwestern football and basketball and also served as a referee for both basketball and football in the area. Additionally, he held the position of Waterfront Director of the Chautauqua Institution Boys and Girls Club for 29 years from 1964 to 1993. He was a former officer of the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame and one of four original founding organizers of The Senior Golf Tour locally. Rick was very proud of the Hole-in-One he scored at the Chautauqua Golf Course on May 21, 1998. He was also a member of the Masons and the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club. Surviving is his wife of 52 years, the former Rita Angilella, whom he married February 23, 1963 in Ss Peter and Paul Church; a son, Randy L. (Kara) Brown of Wakefield, MA and a daughter, Rebecca L. (Kenneth) Sherman of Suffolk, VA; five grandchildren, Sophie, Robert, Henry and Michael Brown of Wakefield, and Molly Sherman of Suffolk; and two brothers, Donald R. Brown of Rochester, NY and William L. (Laura) Brown of Folsom, CA. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday in St. James Catholic Church. The Rev. Darrell G. Duffy will be celebrant. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery. Friends will be received from 4 to 7 p.m. Sunday in the Lind Funeral Home, where a Christian Wake Service will be held at 6:45 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be made to the Richard and Louis Brown Memorial Basketball Scholarship at Southwestern, c/o 44 W. Fairwood Dr., Lakewood, NY 14750; the Alzheimer's Assoc. of WNY, 2805 Wehrle Dr., Suite 6, Williamsville, NY 14221; or Hospice Chautauqua County, 20 W. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood, NY 14750.