John Edward Brown Jr.

John Edward Brown Jr., 58, of Moses Lake passed away on Feb. 7 in the Critical Care Unit of Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee after a brief illness. He was born on Nov. 14, 1947. John knew that Jesus was his Lord and Savior, and reached out to him in the hospital saying, "I'm right here. Here I am." John was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Moses Lake, where he was recently elected to the Church Council. He was involved in every Bible study he could be in and participated in many fellowship events.

Over the past four years, he had taken many trips with his best friend, Wendy Swindoll, to Alaska, Canada, California, and many beaches on the Pacific Northwest coast. Road trips and shopping trips were special to him and they enjoyed having silly fun during the drives. In 2004, they flew to Chicago to meet 20 of their Internet friends, all of whom have become a close-knit family.

John served in our nation's Army and had been stationed in many countries including Germany. He had been married to Diane for 30 years and had two children. They were divorced in 2003.

John had worked for Boeing from 1985 to 2001 as a fabricator for the safety team and as safety manager. He retired from Boeing and had moved to Moses Lake in 2002. He worked for a few companies including WorkSource as a customer service representative and was currently employed with Laughin Industries, which supplies parts for Genie. He thought highly about his job and his boss, Ron.

John was a very caring and giving person. He was never afraid to have fun. Making fun of himself was just another aspect of having fun. The Internet game room will not be the same without him. He enjoyed playing games and emailing his friends and family. He recently was getting reacquainted with his son, and spoke often of his emails from his kids.

Preceding him in death were his parents. He is survived by his best friend Wendy, his daughter, Vanessa Brown of Mount Vernon, his son, Zach Brown of Stanwood, his sister, Carolyn Henry of Anchorage, Alaska, his brother, Terry of Tampa, Florida and his many friends from around the world. John will be greatly missed by all who loved him and his silly sense of humor. He is now exploring new horizons, brighter rainbows and longer streams.

Betts Funeral Home in Wenatchee was in charge of cremation. A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Sat. Feb. 18 at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1020 South A Street in Moses Lake. Memorials may be made in John's memory to the church.