William Lee “Bill” Brown, of Niangua, MO, departed this life February 7, 2013 in Kansas City, KS, at the age of 81. He was born November 1, 1931 in Corona, CA, the only son of Walter P. and Mary M. (Stumpf) Brown. He was raised in Southern California and served our country in the United States Air Force.

Bill was united in marriage to Ruth Joy Henry on June 28, 1953 at San Bernardino, CA. They cherished over 59 years together, and to this union 2 children were born. In California, Bill worked for Shell Oil Company, followed by a couple years of managing Henry’s Dairy in Muscoy, CA. In December 1972, the Browns moved from Rialto, CA to a farm on Highway CC just south of Conway, MO where Bill ran a dairy farm for over 20 years. In his retirement years he raised beef cattle.

Bill Brown was a devoted teacher of the Senior Adult Sunday school class for many years and was a deacon at First Baptist Church of Conway. He loved the outdoors, and he loved living on the farm. Bill enjoyed the simple things in life. He liked to boat and fish. One of his favorite pastimes was going to the pond to catch the big one. He had the special pleasure of feeding Geri’s horse Stormy a carrot each day.

Bill never met a stranger, and he would go out of his way to help those in need. He loved his children and grandchildren. He loved the Lord and his church. He will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by all those who had the pleasure of knowing and loving him.

Survivors include his wife Joy of the home; son Doug Brown and wife Geri of Niangua, MO; daughter Marion and husband Glenn Gohr of Springfield, MO; four grandchildren: Mark Brown and wife Kathy, Kristy Brown, Jared Gohr, and Aaron Gohr, all of Springfield, MO; two brothers-in laws and their wives, Bob and Myrtice Henry of Springfield, MO, and Jim and Barbara Henry of Pavillion, WY; and a host of relatives and friends.

A celebration service for Bill Brown will be held at First Baptist Church in Conway at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Burial will be in the Conway Cemetery.

Visitation will be from 10:00-11:00 a.m. at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of the Day Funeral Home of Marshfield. Memorial contributions may be made to First Baptist Church of Conway or to Gideon Bibles.