Born in Oakland CA to Margaret Delores and William Archibald Brown.

Bill was a graduate of Castlemont High School, Oakland CA, where he was active in drama and football. He received an AA degree from San Mateo Jr. College and a BS in Business Administration from San Jose State College. He attended Stanford University in the MBA program as an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow.

He proudly served in the US Army from 1954 to 1956 during the Army Occupation in Austria and assigned to the finance attaché office at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy.

His employment includes Shell Oil 1956-1961, IBM 1961-1988 in Honolulu, HI and Eastman Kodak 1988-1996 in the Washington DC area.

He promoted the arts with memberships in: The Florida Studio Theater, Blowing Rock Stage Company and Mountain Home Music Boone NC.

His hobbies and activities included: Scuba diving at Truk Lagoon, Palau, Micronesia, The Great Barrier Reef, Belize, the Caribbean, and the Florida Keys. He stayed active on the golf course. His oil and acrylic paintings won several awards over the years. He produced movies of his extensive travels which included Mexico, Canada, China, Russia, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, South America, French Polynesia. Micronesia, Isreal, North Africa and Egypt.

He is survived by his beloved wife Marilyn Draper Brown and his sons: Jeffrey William Parisse (Leslie Hiemov) of Torrance CA; Ross Matthew Brown (Christina Brown) of Honolulu, HI; his stepdaughter Melanie Stone Nixon (Steven Nixon) of Valrico, FL and grandchildren Jacob Parisse of New York and Amanda Parisse of Washington, D.C.

He was predeceased by his youngest son William Adam Brown.

Bill will be laid to rest at Sarasota National Cemetery for Veterans in Sarasota, FL on February 19, 2026 at 12:30pm.

Memorials may be made in his name to: Doctors without Borders, Smile Train, Tunnel to Towers or ASPCA, all charities close to his heart.