Terry Edward Brown

Terry Edward Brown (Buffalo, Okla.) was born on April 21, 1951, and he passed away on January 7, 2021, at the age of 69. 

His service will be Thursday, January 14, 2021, at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Buffalo with interment immediately following at Highpoint Cemetery.

Terry was a hard-working man who lived a full life during those 69 years. Born to Harry Edward Brown and Betty (Buss) Brown in Shattuck, Okla., the family lived in Buffalo until Terry was going into the 7th grade. The family, with younger brother Gary, then moved to May, Okla., and the two boys graduated high school at nearby Ft. Supply. 

Not one to sit idle, Terry worked for the Pyles’ family, hauling hay and feeding animals, when he was 14 years old. When he was 16 years old, he started his own hay-hauling business. He bought an old truck, overhauled it, and bought a pop-up trailer. He went down to the employment office, and he hired two guys to work for him. He continued to operate his hay-hauling business until he graduated high school in 1970.

Following high school graduation, Terry served two years in the U.S. Army in Frankfurt, Germany, during the Vietnam War Era. Always mechanically inclined, Terry was able to increase his auto mechanical skills while serving in the motor pool division. 

Upon returning from Germany, Terry worked as a truck driver for the Hodges’ family. In the summer of 1973, his mother Betty, a nurse at the Buffalo hospital, told him to ask a fellow nurse, Linda Mills, to the Firemen’s Ball. Terry and Linda had known each other growing up, so Terry told Linda they might as well just get married, and so, they did on October 13, 1973. Their son Chance was born in 1975, and their daughter Heather was born in 1979.

Terry bounced around between the local feedlot and oil rigs, and Linda worked as an R.N. at the Buffalo hospital. In their spare time, they hauled hay, cleaned out cattle guards, and whatever else they could find to supplement their income. Terry eventually got a job at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, Division Six, where he retired as the Shop Superintendent in the early 2000s at the age of 56. During his retirement, he kept a small herd of cattle and either owned or was co-owner in several oil field transport businesses.

In 2020, he sold all his cows and became part-owner with his son, Chance Brown, of General, Inc., in Laverne, Okla. His last business transaction brought him full circle with his first hay-hauling business when he purchased the May Country Store and turned it into Brown’s Fuel Station in his hometown of May, Okla. Linda says that he was so excited to do that for the people of May. 

Terry had a large personality and an even larger heart. He often helped people out of rough situations, but he never wanted to be given credit or acknowledgment for it. Terry knew he was far from perfect, but he knew someone who is perfect - Jesus Christ. Always a talker, he enjoyed his time as a greeter at the First Baptist Church in Buffalo, where he was a member.

Terry survived level IV melanoma (skin cancer) on his right temple in the mid-1990s. He received interferon (a radiation drug) for a year before he was cancer free. Then in 2010, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and the middle lobe of his right lung was removed at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital. In November 2020, he contracted COVID-19. He spent a few days at home before he was admitted to the Buffalo hospital. A few days later, he was moved to the Woodward hospital. On December 10, 2020, he had a heart glitch that the doctors believed to be a small heart attack, so he was intubated and flown to the Oklahoma Heart Hospital, the same one where he had part of his lung removed. Before he was intubated, he asked his doctor to pray with him and for him. Those were the last words he spoke. 

Terry Edward Brown was preceded in death by his father, Harry Edward Brown, and his mother, Betty (Buss) Brown.

He is survived by his wife Linda (Mills) of the home; son Chance Brown, his wife Kelly, and his three daughters, Karly, Presley, and Brinkley of Laverne, Okla.; daughter Heather Brown Stephens and her two sons, Damon and Kellen of Buffalo, Okla.; brother Gary Brown of Buffalo, Okla., and his two sons, Brad and Kory; and a slew of extended family members and friends.