[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 73 (Friday, May 3, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E536]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               IN MEMORY OF REVEREND JASPER R. BROWN, SR.

                                 ______
                                 

                      HON. SANFORD D. BISHOP, JR.

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, May 3, 2019

  Mr. BISHOP of Georgia. Madam Speaker, it is with a heavy heart and 
solemn remembrance that I rise today, to pay tribute to a man of God, 
respected public servant, and dear friend of longstanding, Reverend 
Jasper R. Brown, Sr. Sadly, Reverend Brown transitioned from labor to 
reward on Wednesday, April 24, 2019. His funeral service will be held 
at 3 pm on Sunday, May 5, 2019, at Live Oak A.M.E. Church in 
Donalsonville, Georgia.
  Rev. Jasper Ross Brown, Sr. was born in Malone, Florida on September 
17, 1925, to the union of Reverend David Rufus Brown and Mrs. Torah 
Bowers Brown. The values of Christian discipleship and hard work were 
instilled in Jasper at a young age. After completing primary school in 
the Jackson County, Florida Public School System, he began working 
under his father and developed the discipline, work ethic, and joy that 
came with farming and being exposed to the Gospel. Because manhood was 
thrust upon him at an early age, he only finished eighth grade, but was 
an avid reader, highly intelligent, and had a love for learning. Hence, 
as an adult, while working full-time at Great Southern Plywood Mill in 
Cedar Springs, Georgia, and supporting his family, he went back to 
school taking high school classes in Tallahassee, Florida and earned 
his GED.
  Jasper Brown answered the call to serve his nation at the age of 18, 
becoming the first African-American from Seminole County, Georgia to be 
inducted into the United State Marine Corps. He was trained as a member 
of the historic Montford Point Marines and fought in the gruesome 
Battle of Peleliu in Japan during World War II. More than 50 years 
later, he and all of the Montford Point Marines, the first African-
Americans allowed to serve in the Marine Corps, were awarded the 
Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama recognizing their 
personal sacrifice and service to their country during World War II.
  When Jasper Brown returned home from World War II, within a few days 
of his return, he met and shortly thereafter married Ruby Moore Brown, 
a union which lasted for 53 years until Ruby's death in May, 2001. 
Japser and Ruby had 10 children, seven of whom predeceased them.
  A man of many trades, he explored the realm of real estate in the 
Donalsonville area before taking classes to obtain his GED. During this 
time, he used his voice to help improve the working conditions for the 
employees at the Great Southern Plywoood Mill in Cedar Springs, 
Georgia, where he helped organize and form a union to protect 
employees' rights to a fair wage, fair pensions, insurance, and overall 
fair treatment. He mentored others and was often a voice for the 
voiceless and was never reluctant to challenge injustice in the 
workplace or anywhere people sought his help for unfair treatment. He 
was elected and served honorably as the first Black City Councilman in 
the City of Donalsonville, Georgia.
  In October 1977, Jasper Brown accepted his calling into the ministry 
to preach the word of God, and for 30 years, he pastored in the African 
Methodist Episcopal Church under the jurisdiction of the South and 
Southwest Georgia Conferences.
  His pastoral ministry included Whigham Circuit & Little Bethel A.M.E. 
Church, South Georgia Conference; Hilton Circuit, Southwest Georgia 
Conference; Newberry A.M.E. Church, Southwest Georgia Conference; Payne 
Chapel A.M.E. Church, Southwest Georgia Conference; Aimwell A.M.E. 
Church, Southwest Georgia Conference; and Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, 
Southwest Georgia Conference. After briefly retiring to rediscover his 
love of farming, Rev. Brown was called back to the church and assigned 
to Ebenezer A.M.E. Church, Hilton, where he pastored for another four 
years before completely retiring in December, 2011.
  On a personal note, I am proud to have considered Rev. Jasper Brown, 
his late wife, Ruby Moore Brown, and the entire Brown and Moore 
Families as friends of longstanding. Their daughter, Alice, interned at 
the Georgia General Assembly while I was serving in the State House and 
she was a student at the University of Georgia. Through her, I 
eventually met the family, as attorney for her mother, the sister of 
the renowned Dr. Dallas Moore. Mrs. Ruby Brown had been seriously 
injured in a motor vehicle crash in Seminole County. My relationship 
with the Brown and Moore families has endured for over 3 decades and 
has been pivotal in my career and political success. I will be forever 
grateful for their friendship and support.
  Rev. Brown accomplished much in his life, but none of it would have 
been possible without the Grace of God and the love and support of his 
family as well as the countless others who impacted his life. His 
passing leaves a tremendous void in the lives of his children: Jasper, 
Jr., Derrell, Alice, Kendra, Deborah, Angela, Annette, and Anthony; 
brother, Virgil; sixteen grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; 
nieces, nephews, cousins; personal assistant, Ms. France Land; friend 
and companion, Ms. Petronia ``Sweet'' Mike; and countless other family 
and friends; all of whom will miss him deeply.
  Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues in the House of Representatives to 
join my wife, Vivian, and me, along with the more than 730,000 people 
of Georgia's Second Congressional District, in honoring the life and 
legacy of the Reverend Jasper R. Brown, Sr. for his outstanding 
accomplishments in the ministry and his service to humankind. Moreover, 
we extend our deepest sympathies to Reverend Brown's family, friends, 
loved ones, and all who grieve during this difficult time of 
bereavement. We pray that they will be consoled and comforted by an 
abiding faith and the Holy Spirit in the weeks, months, and years 
ahead.

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