Mr. Brown was born February, 22, 1943 in Massachusetts, the son of the late Edward P. Brown.

 

Roger was a veteran of 11 years service in the U.S. Army.  He served 2 tours in Vietnam; he also served in Alaska, Korea, Germany and in the United States.  Mr. Brown served eight years in the New York army national guard.  Mr. Brown was also a member of the Leroy American Legion.

 

Survivors include his wife Carol (Folger) Brown, two daughters Michelle Mejia of Wisconsin, Terri Lynn Brown of Phoenix, his mother Merlyn E. Brown of Batavia; 3 sisters, Lucille Klehn of Texas, Lorraine Cooke of Oklahoma, Bertha Young of Rochester; and several nieces and nephews.

 

There are no prior calling hours; a graveside service will take place at Grandview Cemetery, August, 20th at 10:00 am.  Memorials may be made to the Genesee Memorial Hospital Building Fund or the American Heart Association.

 

 

From Carol Folger, fellow BHS '61 classmate and Roger's wife:

 

Roger quit school when he was 17 and joined the Army on that very day. As he used to tell me, he graduated before we did with his GED, while we spent the rest of the year in classes. He was in classes also, but much different from ours. He was learning to take care of helicopters -- the Huey -- in particular. He spent a long 12 year career on active duty in the Army with two tours of duty in Vietnam, was a door gunner during first tour and technical inspector of maintenance on the Huey during his second tour. From there, we were married in 1966 and spent 3 years in Germany, then he went to Korea after the Pueblo "incident" as experienced helicopter guys were much needed. He spent a 13 month tour there then came back to the US and taught at Fort Eustis, VA.

Unfortunate story from here. We came home for Christmas that year and were told upon our arrival that Roger's father had died hours earlier. We stayed home for his funeral and wrapping up necessary stuff and had informed the Army through the Red Cross as military personnel are instructed to do. However, some idiot at Ft. Eustis reported a 12 year active duty Staff Sergeant, AWOL. Roger had been up for and was to be promoted to Sergeant First Class that January, but because of the bogus AWOL report, the military pulled his promotion papers. He was told that it would be another 2 to 3 years before he would be able to hit the promotion list again. He told them what to do with it and was discharged from active duty that November. He joined the New York State National Guard doing the very same thing he did in the regular Army at Niagara Falls on the Army side of the base. He continued in this job for another 6 years, when he had a heart attack.

 

He was forced to retire on disability within the year as he could not pass the required military physical. He retired and was honorably discharged from the National Guard with a total of 18 years of service. The doctors had given him 5 years to live at that time (1978). He had used his GI bill and gotten his associates degree in Business Administration while still in the National Guard and used that to get a job as maintenance supervisor at a car dealership. He died on August 17, 1982, from a massive heart attack that occurred while he was asleep.

 

Update June 4, 2012:

The Veterans Administration has now, after 30 years, determined that Roger's untimely early death from ischemic heart disease was a direct result of his exposure to Agent Orange during his two years of service in VietNam. This explains to his family and friends the "why" of his death at such a young age.

- Carol Folger