G. Edward “Ed” Brown, 88, passed away Wednesday, November 7, 2018 at Rapid City Regional Hospital. Ed was born April 11, 1930 to George and Cecelia (Mailloux) Brown in Rapid City, a town in which he resided for over eighty-five years. In 1948, he entered the United States Navy after graduating from high school and upon his honorable discharge, returned to the Hills in 1950 then marrying Noelle Brown (nee Colvin). Shortly afterward, Ed began his employment for the Rapid City Street Department, working there for forty-one years until his retirement.

As an avid outdoorsman and a man deeply driven by the beauty of the Hills, a place he often referred to as “God’s Country,” his identity grew from the soil that nurtured him his entire life. Hunting and fishing marked his life’s calendar and later, when hiking the rugged country became too tough, he enjoyed driving through the Hills, always amazed at seeing something new in a place he had called home for nearly nine decades.

Likewise, his family etched a deep impression in his being, and his steadfast support of their lives and hopes remains a part of them. His daughter Donna Bombeck (nee Brown), of Newcastle, WY; and son Gene Brown of Bismarck, ND survive him, as do seven grandchildren and thirteen great-grandchildren, as well as Ed’s sister Rose Irene Fuller (nee Brown) of Rapid City. Ed was preceded in death by his mother, father and his wife Noelle.