Herman Brown, 96, of Sweet Home, died on Monday May 7, 2007.

Herman was born on Dec. 18, 1910 in Arkansas to Alexander and Elizabeth (Benningfield) Brown. The family moved to Oklahoma.

On Dec. 25, 1929 he married Joanna Summerhill, and they had four sons. They moved to Tularosa, New Mexico, where he worked in a sawmill until the depression hit in 1930. They moved to Glover, Oklahoma, and he worked for a farmer for 50 cents a day, six days a week, plowing fields by hand with mules. In 1935, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt enacted the WPA, he learned to run heavy equipment and worked for the Oklahoma Highway Department building roads.

He joined the Oklahoma National Guard, and then enlisted in the US Army in May 1944, and was stationed in Europe. During his tour there, he was an assistant tank driver and machine gunner for the 774th Tank Battalion under General George Patton’s 5th Army. He was in the Battle of the Bulge and saw many atrocities during that time, including Nazi concentration camps and Hitler’s “Hideout”. He was honorably discharged Nov. 6, 1945.

There being no work available upon his return home, he went to Oregon with friends looking for jobs. Joanna became ill and passed away, and Herman brought his sons to Oregon where he met and eventually married Josephine Sewell on April 16, 1949. She brought two daughters to the union, and Herman and Josephine had four children together. He worked for Bauman’s Sawmill in Foster, Oregon until it was displaced by Foster Reservoir, and then continued on in its new location near Lebanon.

He retired due to an injury in 1972. He and Josephine moved onto property owned by his son, Ted, and kept very busy cutting firewood, cutting brush, feeding and watering livestock, and mowing the five-acre lawn with a push lawnmower. He was finally convinced after about 15 years to use a riding lawnmower. He continued all these chores up until he was 90 and his health would not permit. He loved the outdoors and had much pleasure in watching the deer that would come to feed on the property. He loved to fish, hunt, and garden good food. He also had a love for new cars.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Josephine; sons, Herb, Hershel, and Herman Jr.; and daughter, Joan. He is survived by his sons, Ted Brown, Roy Brown, and William Brown, and daughters, Rubye Stone, Isla Wagner, and Frieda Gibson. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm Thursday at the Sweet Home Assembly of God Church. Viewing wil start at noon at the church prior to services. Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling services.