Anthony "Tony" Brown (1936 - 2023)

     Born to George W. and LoVerne Brown on Apr. 26, 1936, in Juneau, Alaska, Tony was the oldest of three children.  From the beginning and throughout life, Tony survived many challenges to his health, but he lived a full life, becoming active in many causes.  Among others, he was born premature at three pounds and survived polio at seven.  

     The Brown family moved often during his childhood, mostly to locations in California, but they finally settled in the San Diego community of Ocean Beach.  Tony graduated from Point Loma High in 1954, served briefly in the Army National Guard, and went on to attend San Diego State College, earning a B.A. in Philosophy.  

     Relocating to the [San Francisco] Bay Area in the late 1950s, Tony was active in the Free Speech movement, protests against the Vietnam War, and human rights causes, which included traveling to the South during the Civil Rights Movement as an activist. Over the years, he was employed by several non-profit agencies and in the social services field. He also spent many hours volunteering for such causes.  

     Tony moved back to San Diego in 1983, returning to Ocean Beach, where his mother still lived.  In 1986, he was involved in an accident in which, as a pedestrian, he sustained a major head injury which radically changed his life, following which his brother Tim was appointed his conservator.  The two brothers remained close until Tim’s passing in 2016.

     Tony was interested in a variety of subjects; a sports enthusiast, he was a long-time San Francisco 49ers and Giants fan. But no material items were more valuable to him than his beloved books, as he enjoyed a lifelong love of reading. Playing chess, cribbage, and pinochle were other favorite activities he shared with family and friends over the years. While living in a local memory care facility over the last several years, Tony’s health began to decline, until he finally passed peacefully on Nov. 1, 2023.

     Tony was predeceased by his father, mother, and younger brother Tim. He never married or had children, but he was influential in the lives of his three nieces and many others over the years. He is survived by his sister, Jonnie Wilson; sister-in-law, Jennifer Brown (Rick McGuckin); nieces, Linda Wilson, Kerry Csencsits, and Erin Wilson; great-nephews, Justin and Garret Csencsits, several cousins, and many friends both in San Diego and the Bay Area.