Hollis Bradley Brown, a longtime resident of Maysville, Kentucky, passed away December 8, 2018 at Wesley Village in Wilmore. He was 87.
He was born August 19, 1931, to Mattie Todd Brown and Lee Brown of Pulaski County. He was a graduate of Eubank High School, Berea College, and the University of Kentucky. He served in the US Army near Regensburg, Germany from 1954 to 1956.
He had a distinguished career with the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. He was 4-H agent in Lewis County and Taylor County, prior to spending most of his career as the Area Development Specialist for the ten-county Licking River Area. For the latter position, his office was in the Fleming County courthouse until the construction of the Maysville Community College, where he was one of the original occupants in 1969. He was a welcomed guest speaker at Homemaker meetings and garden club meetings. He enjoyed his long-running live monthly chat on WFTM radio’s True to the Farm program hosted by Bill Stewart.
He was an active church member. During the years in Campbellsville, he and his wife Jill were youth group sponsors at Bethel Presbyterian Church. In Maysville, he was the founder of the audio tape ministry at Central United Methodist Church, where he held various leadership positions over a 45-year period. He was active in United Methodist Men at the local and district level. He served on the board of United Methodist Mountain Mission based in Jackson. He served as a lay speaker for United Methodist churches of the Maysville district.
He served in the leadership of the UK Agriculture Alumni organization. As an active retiree, he could be found daily walking the indoor track at the Maysville YMCA, where many considered him a friend. He was longtime secretary of the Mason County Men’s Club.
He was married in 1958 to Clara “Jill” Wolfe, originally from Parsons, West Virginia, who survives him. Jill and Bradley met in the fall of 1953 at Berea College. Other survivors include daughter Jayne Brown Zimmerman (Jeff) of Deerfield, Illinois, John Bradley Brown (Jennifer) of Lexington, and four grandchildren: Kelsey Rose Brown, Kurtis Bradley Brown, Anna Zimmerman and Ellen Zimmerman. He was preceded in death by sister Velma Brown Blankenship and brother John Barkley Brown.
A brief committal service will be held, near his boyhood home, at the Woodstock Baptist Church, 12600 KY Hwy 39, Somerset, KY 42503, on Tuesday, December 18, 2018 at 2:30 pm with Bradley’s son-in-law, Rev. Jeff Zimmerman, officiating. Burial, with full military honors performed by the Caswell-Saufley American Legion Post #18, will follow in Woodstock Cemetery.
A memorial service will be held at Wesley Village, 1125 Lexington Road, Wilmore, in the Wilmore Senior Community Center, on Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 2:30 pm with Rev. Todd Nelson and Dr. John Oswalt officiating. Following the service, attendees are invited to a reception hosted by Wesley Village in memory of Bradley.
In lieu of flowers, the family encourages contributions to Central United Methodist Church, 916 East Second Street, Maysville, KY 41056.
Barnett, Demrow & Friend Funeral Home, Waynesburg, KY, is entrusted with Bradley’s arrangements. Guest Book at www.friendfuneralhomes.com.
