James Curtis Brown James Curtis Brown, 92, of San Luis Obispo, CA, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his family on May 3rd, 2019. Jim was born in Cattar- augus, NY, to William Leone and Helen Vivian Brown. He had one sister, Jewell Annette Brown, who preceded him in death in 2006.
Jim didn’t know it at the time but he had met the love of his life, Margaret “Peggy” Mosher, in kindergarten, 87 years ago where they attended grade school and high school together. He enlisted in the US Navy in 1943 at the age of 17 with World War II well under way. He served on the U.S.S. Dixie (AD-14), a destroyer tender, as a Quartermaster.
For the next 2 years The Dixie was assigned to the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. The ship’s final mission took him to Shanghai, China, to help liberate the Chinese from the Japanese Occupation as World War II came to an end. After his return, he and Peggy married on July 7, 1951.
Jim took advantage of the newly created G.I. Bill and attended the University at Buffalo where he graduated in the school’s first accelerated two-year J.D. law program. Jim passed the NY State Bar Exam in 1955, and worked for Allstate Insurance in claims management for 17 years, and rose through the ranks at regional offices in Rochester, NY, NYC, and Sacramento, CA. He passed the California State Bar Exam in 1969, and for the next 20 years he worked as a distinguished personal injury defense attorney in Northern Calif- ornia where he was one of the original founders of the law firm, Gallawa, Brown & Kroesch.
One of his more prominent cases was representing Southern Pacific Transportation in the aftermath of the 1973 munitions freight train explosion in Roseville, CA. Jim continued to practice law through the 1990s and retired to the Central California Coast with Peggy to be closer to family. Jim was the found- ation of his family and epitomized the meaning of self-sacrifice.
He is survived by his loving wife of almost 68 years, Margaret Mosher Brown, and their three children, Cathy (Dr. George Jr) Johnson of San Luis Obispo, Patty (Mark) Woolpert of Arroyo Grande, and Mark (Christine) Brown of Carlsbad, CA. He is also survived by his nine grand- children; Jordan Johnson, George Johnson III, MacKenzie Johnson, Marcy (John) Rourke, Mitchell (Leigh) Woolpert, Patrick Woolpert, Connor Woolpert, Corey Brown, and Luke Brown. A Mass of Christian Burial and Celebration of Life will be held on May 11th at 11 AM at Nativity of Our Lady Catholic Church 221 Daly Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), (800) 533-CURE (2873) in memory of James Brown. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of James Curtis Brown please visit our Sympathy Store.
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