Raymond Brown

Mass of Christian Burial for Raymond Brown, age 92, of Norfolk, Nebraska will be 10:30 a.m. Friday, April 10, 2026, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Norfolk. Reverend Pat McLaughlin be celebrant, with entombment in Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery Mausoleum in Norfolk.

Military honors will be provided by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1644, American Legion Post 16, Army National Guard Honor Guard, and American Legion Riders.

Visitation will be Thursday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at Home for Funerals Chapel, 708 Georgia Avenue in Norfolk, with a 7:00 p.m. Vigil Service.

Raymond died Friday, April 3, 2026, at Faith Health in Norfolk.

Raymond Lee Brown was born on January 17, 1934, two miles west of Riverton, Nebraska, to Roy and Jennie (Newbold) Brown. On May 23, 1947, he graduated from the eighth grade at Naponee Public School and later graduated from Naponee Public High School on May 16, 1951.

Ray entered the United States Army on October 26, 1953, and took basic training at Fort Ord, California, before being sent overseas, during the Korean War. He was sent over to Europe on a troop ship named General Morris Rose. Raymond was assigned to the 41st Transportation Company in Kaiserslautern, Germany. His troop hauled ammo and gasoline from a port in France to a supply depot near Berlin, Germany.

In the fall of 1954, Ray tried out for the 37th THTD Wheelers basketball team in Manheim, Germany and was one of ten people selected to play on the division team. They played 81 games, of which they only lost seven. The team played in 26 different countries. Ray was discharged from the Army on October 26, 1955, with the rank of Spec. 4. After returning home from overseas, Raymond joined the Army Reserves in Omaha and was discharged from the Reserves in 1961.

He married Norma Jean Stover on December 31, 1955, at the Catholic Church in Alma, Nebraska. To this union five children were born. Raymond resided in Lincoln, Nebraska from 1956 to 1958 and was employed as a truck driver by Gamble and Robinson Company.

In the spring of 1958 Ray was selected by the Nebraska Safety Patrol to attend their basic training camp located at Camp Ashland, Nebraska. Raymond and Norma moved with their two young children, Linda and Randy, from Lincoln to Omaha in January of 1959. He was appointed to the Nebraska Safety Patrol as a trooper (Badge Number 164) assigned to Troop A in Omaha. Five months later in June 1959, Raymond was transferred to Lyons, Nebraska and in October of 1959, Raymond and his family moved to Oakland, Nebraska. While serving the Oakland area, he provided security in Lincoln and at the governor’s mansion for President Lyndon B. Johnson’s wife, Lady Bird Johnson in 1966. In 1970, he moved with his wife and five children to his final destination of Norfolk, Nebraska.

Raymond was employed as a State Trooper from 1958 to 1988 and retired after 30 years. He attained the rank of corporal in 1967, was promoted to Sergeant in 1970, obtained the rank of lieutenant in 1982, and finally the rank of captain in 1984. Raymond retired as commander of Troop B in 1988.

Raymond later worked for Wal-Mart as an assembler and frontend alignment specialist for ten years. He was a member of Sacred Heart/Saint Mary's Catholic Church, American Legion Post 16, and a lifetime member of VFW Post 1644. He served as First Vice and Third Vice Commander and on the Executive committee with Post #16 for several years. In 2002 he was Legionnaire of the year.

Survivors include his loving children, Linda (Bill) Audiss of Genoa, Randy (Bernice) Brown of Stanton, Rhonda (Pat) Tyler of Oakdale, Michael (Marcy) Brown of Norfolk, and Wanda Townsend of Omaha; 13 grandchildren; and 28 great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Norma Jean; his parents; two brothers; and one sister.

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