OAK HILL — J. Ike Brown, 90, a lifelong resident of Fayette County, died Thursday, Aug. 7, 2014, at CAMC Memorial Division surrounded by his devoted family and loving friends. The Rev. Stan Holmes administered last rites.

Born in Gauley Bridge, W.Va., Aug. 15, 1923, the second son of Minnie McCutcheon Brown and Guy D. Brown, Ike had been a resident of Oak Hill since 1950.

He attended Gauley Bridge schools before graduating from Greenbrier Military School, class of 1941. After one year at the University of Tennessee he enlisted in the United States Army in August of 1942.
As a member of the “Greatest Generation,” Ike was proud of his World War II military service. He was in one of the last cavalry regiments with horses before being transferred to the infantry where he served in the Philippines and New Guinea and participated in the Allied Forces' occupation of Japan in 1945. He was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

After the war Ike joined the family automobile business founded by his father in 1914, Brown Chevrolet Company in Montgomery and King Coal Chevrolet Company in Oak Hill.

He was a former member of the Board of Directors of Merchant's National Bank in Montgomery, the Oak Hill Rotary Club, the Gauley Bridge Masonic Lodge and a member and former trustee of the Oak Hill Baptist Church.
His wife of 58 years, Mary Irene Kirby Brown, preceded him in death, as did his grandson, Scott McCutcheon Brewer, and his brother, Gordon B. Brown.

Survivors include his two daughters, Debra Brown Brewer and husband, Michael, of Fayetteville and Rita Brown DeAth and husband, William, of Fayetteville; grandchildren, Matthew Ike Brewer, John Kirby Brewer, Phillip Lee DeAth and Bailey Irene DeAth; and great-grandson, Keelan Montani Brewer.

In keeping with his wishes there is no visitation or service. The Committal of Ashes will be in the Gauley Bridge Baptist Church Cemetery.
Thanks to the Beckley and Charleston, WV newspapers