Marion J. Brown

Marion J. Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. M. Brown, died Monday afternoon, 
at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Horace Smith, his wife’s parents.  He was 
aged 32 years, 4 months.

The deceased was born in Minnesota, and the family came to Inyo county 
when he was but a year and half old.  He(orig. sp.) education was in the 
public schools here.  He farmed with his father until he entered the 
Forest Service about seven years ago.

He leaves a wife, Mrs. Eva Smith Brown, and three young children.  His 
father and mother; his sisters Mrs. L. H. Sanborn and Mrs. Leslie 
Fitchett and a brother, Sylvester L. Brown, live here, and another 
sister, Mrs. Nina E. Langrell, is in Livingston, Merced county.

So much of his quality is truly set forth in a tribute reaching us from 
the Inyo forest headquarters here that we incorporate it here in lieu 
of words of our own:

“The Inyo National Forest received a most stunning blow when one of its 
best known and best loved officers, Marion J. Brown, passed away at 3 p.m. 
November 4th.  Marion had been in the employ of the U. S. Forest Service 
for nearly seven years, spending this entire time on the Inyo Forest.  For 
the past four years he had charge of the White mountain district, and for 
the past three years he has been over the Big Pine district, with 
headquarters at Big Pine.

“He was a most efficient officer, and one that strictly enforced all forest 
regulations, which in times past were not always understood or liked by the 
forest users; still, byhis kindness, tact and fearlessness he always worked 
so that the regulations were carried out, but at the same time kept the 
friendship and respect of every permittee that he came in contact with.

“He was a man of great ambition, a deep thinker and a loyal friend, and the 
Forest Service most deeply regrets his loss.”

The Inyo Register, Bishop, Inyo County, California
Thursday, November 7, 1918 – Front Page, continued on page two.

Transcribed by Denise S. Flynn