Richard Kerry Brown was born in Greeley, Colorado on July 21, 1956, the second son of James “Bear” and Twila Brown. Rich spent his youth in Colorado Springs, graduating from Wasson High School in 1975.  He then received a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts from the University of Northern Colorado in 1979, followed by a graduate degree in information technology in 1995.

Printing was Rich’s first career—he worked at Shef Enterprises, was the printer for the City of Greeley, printed dog track programs at Journal Publishing, and eventually opened his own sublimation printing business, Tisdale Creations, in 1983.  While Rich had a reputation as a good printer, his true passion was working with computers.  He oversaw several computer labs at UNC before becoming a Network Technician in the Information Technology department. From1997 to 2020, he worked as a Network Architect with IBM and then AT&T. He enjoyed his coworkers and made many lifelong friendships there.

Rich married Lois Harrison in 1982. They were best friends. They lived in Evans and Windsor before finally settling in Johnstown with their ever-expanding family of cats. 

Rich is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Buzz. Rich is survived by his wife, Lois, his aunts Winona Toburen and Kathryn Teeters, his brothers- and sisters-in-law, his beloved nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews, many cousins, and a wide array of dear friends.  

A memorial service for Rich will be held at the United Methodist Church of Johnstown, 108 King Avenue in Johnstown, on Saturday, February 21st, at 11 a.m.

 In lieu of flowers, donations to Phil’s Friends (philsfriends.org) or Greenwood Wildlife Rehabilitation Center (greenwoodwildlife.org) would be greatly appreciated.