Obituaries

Richard Allen Brown of San Jose, California passed away October 29^th at the age of 64 in Seattle Washington after a fall and head injury.

Rich grew up in Tacoma Washington and moved to San Jose California after graduating from WSU with a degree in marketing.  After a year in San Jose he decided to follow his passion for technology and earned a degree in Physics from SJSU.

After college Rich joined Spectra Physics where he worked on lasers and optics, then Nanometrics where he worked on optical measurement systems, and lastly BAE where he was a safety engineer for hybrid tanks.

Cars were always a passion for Rich, and in the 90’s he converted an ’83 Mazda RX7 from gas to electric.  He built it both to drive to work in and to drag race.  His world record in the street car division still stands.

Rich loved the Lord and was a member of Westgate Church in San Jose.  For Rich it was all about the kids. He taught Sunday school for more than 20 years, and more recently volunteered for Kids Club, an afterschool program for elementary school kids.

After his retirement, Rich kept busy by making keepsakes on his glowforge for the premature babies in the NICU, and by being a handyman at his lake house in Shelton Washington, where he and his family enjoyed many summers.

Rich is survived by many family members: his wife of 40 years, Diane Brown, his daughters Michelle Brown of Denver, CO and Nicole Brown of San Jose,CA, his brother Bob Brown of St. Maries, ID, and his sister Diana Brown of Tacoma, WA.

A memorial will be held November 13^th at 3 pm at the South Hills campus of Westgate church at 6601 Camden Ave in San Jose.  If you wish to donate in Rich’s name, consider two of his favorite charities, Living Water International (water.cc) or San Jose City Team (cityteam.org/san-jose).