Thales Brown Obituary (1920

Thales C. Brown was born September 2, 1920 in Springville, Utah to Guy Edward Brown and Sarah Childs Brown. His brothers were Douglas C. and Calvin E. He was married to Edna Wiscombe on November 5, 1941 and sealed to her in the St. George LDS Temple on May 18, 1946. They have been married for 73 years. They are the parents of three children - Dean Thales, Phyllis and James Edward. He was heartbroken losing both Phyllis and Dean earlier this year. He passed away peacefully in his home on November 8, 2014. As a young man, he grew up in Springville where he spent many hours on a farm riding horses, milking cows, watering the fields, and other chores. He enjoyed music with his family and school. He played the trombone as his parents and brother played various other instruments in a family band. Later, he enjoyed being in the high school orchestra. Thales graduated from Springville High School and later received BS and MS degrees from Utah State University. Thales was taught at a young age to give service to others. He has tirelessly done just that throughout his life. He began a teaching career at Parowan High School in 1944. He was a dedicated teacher for 39 years, touching the lives of many young men and women. Thales has planted and harvested a beautiful garden for his entire life. He shared his harvest with his family and community. Thales has given countless hours serving his community, church, and county as a Vocational Agriculture teacher at Parowan High School. As a teacher, he helped to write many of Utah's State Agriculture Courses. He served as President of Utah Agriculture Teachers Association and as its Vice President and Secretary for two years. He received Utah's Vocational Agriculture Teacher Association outstanding Service Award. He received the Utah VATA Teacher of the Year Award. From 1968 to 1983, he cooked BBQ turkey for the Parowan high School Thanksgiving dinner. He is well known in Southern Utah for his BBQ turkey dinners. He also received numerous other community and school awards. Thales was big on celebrating and creating family traditions and enjoyed hunting with his family, an annual summer birthday party, the Labor Day celebration when his family gathered to celebrate his birthday, and Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings. He also enjoyed raising pigs and letting the grandkids play with them. Thales and Edna enjoyed traveling and taking their grandchildren with them in "the camper" to places all around the western United States. Grandpa Brown enjoyed following his grandchildren with their many activities especially sporting events. He enjoyed being a high school referee in his younger days. For many years he decorated his home and yard for Christmas in the Country. He has received many awards for his work. His flowers and roses were always beautiful and he enjoyed growing them and especially sharing them. Several years after he came to town, there were no Christmas ornaments for the streets, so he made some decorations out of metal, put lights on them, and gave the town some Christmas spirit. He was chairman of the Iron County Education Credit Union. He served for 40 years on the Iron County Livestock Show Board and 5 years as an Iron County Fair Board member serving as secretary, vice chairman, chairman and an exhibit judge. He has been a lifetime exhibitor in the Iron County Fair where his wares have been seen in the exhibit hall. He has also been a member of the local Red Hill Wranglers. He was honored as the Grand Marshal of the 2012 Iron County Fair. He was a faithful member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served in many callings throughout his life. He and his wife enjoyed serving a mission in New Zealand as well as serving as ordinance workers in the St. George LDS Temple. Thales is survived by his wife, Edna (Wiscombe), son, James Edward Brown (Shelley) daughter-in-law, Marilyn (Roberts) Brown, 16 grandchildren, and 34 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a daughter and son-in-law, Phyllis and Wesley Blake; a son, Dean Thales Brown; and a granddaughter, Julie Blake. Funeral services will be held Thursday, November 13, 2014, at 11 a.m. in the Parowan 1st Ward chapel. Viewings will be Wednesday evening from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m at the Church. Interment will be in the Parowan City Cemetery under the direction of Southern Utah Mortuary.