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Former Rehoboth Beach municipal building maintenance supervisor, firefighter and World War II veteran John Brown died Sunday, Dec. 16. He was 89 years old.
Brown had been a fixture in Rehoboth Beach for 60 years, serving as chief of the fire department and commander of American Legion Post 5 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 7447, among many other posts.
During World War II, Brown fought in an armored tank unit at the Battle of the Bulge as a commander in Company D of the 20th Tank Battalion, 20th Armored Division, under the legendary Gen. George Patton.
During an interview last year for a Cape GazetteSaltwater Portrait, Brown said serving under Patton was difficult, but “when he said ‘let’s go get the sonsabitches’ we went, because he meant every word of it.”
He was also part of the unit that liberated Dachau concentration camp from the Nazis in the spring of 1945.
“When we freed the prisoners, the ones who could still move ran the guards down and killed them right there,” Brown said last year.
“They took the guards’ guns and bashed their heads in. They had done so many mean things to them. You had to be there and see it to believe it,” said Brown.
Before enlisting in the armed forces, Brown ran a country store near Harrington. Upon his return from Europe, Brown worked for Shorgas of Dover, which became Suburban Propane, before opening his own bottled gas company from 1953 to 1967. He later settled in as Rehoboth municipal building maintenance supervisor and head of the parks department. Although he retired in 1979, Brown continued to work for the city under contract.
Rehoboth Mayor Sam Cooper won his first seat on the city commission in 1981, ironically defeating Brown in the election.
“He was quite a guy,” Cooper said of Brown’s death. “But he was sick for a long time.”
Cooper said he always enjoyed hearing Brown’s stories about World War II, particularly about Patton. He said Brown represented a time when Rehoboth was much more personal and low key.
City Manager Greg Ferrese said Brown helped his transition to Rehoboth when he moved there from Pittsburgh in 1983.
“He’ll be sorely missed. You don’t replace people like John Brown,” Ferrese said. “He was the kind of guy you never wanted to see get old.”
Ferrese said Brown was always loyal, available and willing to help everyone he came in contact with.
“I could always depend on John,” he said.
Ferrese said he always enjoyed talking to Brown about city projects and hearing Brown’s war stories.
“He was a great person all the way around. I have so many fond memories of John,” he said.
Greg Gause worked part-time for Brown when he first moved to Rehoboth in 1993. Gause said he and Brown hit it off and that Brown taught him a great deal. Gause said Brown was a great guy and a great family man who dedicated much of his life to the city of Rehoboth.
Gause said one of the fonder stories Brown liked to tell, was of the time he sidled up to Patton himself and got to touch one of the general’s famous ivory-handled revolvers.
“I always admired and respected him very much,” Gause said.
Contact Ryan Mavity at ryanm@capegazette.com
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