Richard "RT" Brown, 85, peacefully passed away on August 2, with his wife and daughter by his side.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Friday, August 9, at Trinity Klein Lutheran Church, 5201 Spring Cypress, Spring, Texas. Visitation is at 10:30 a.m., followed by the service at 11:30 a.m., conducted by Senior Pastor Lee Hopf.
Richard and Iwanna, his wife of 62 years, had been residents in Tomball, Tx for the last three years and had lived in Smithville, Tx prior to their move. He was a life-long believer in Jesus and was a deacon and member of the First Baptist Church of Smithville. He was a faithful husband, loving father, best friend, and true servant of Jesus. RT believed with all his heart, his mind and his soul that death is not the end and that his eternal life would be found in the arms of Jesus.
Born on November 27, 1938, to Tom and Maureen Brown in Groom, Texas, he was the oldest of two children. His family moved to Borger, Texas during his early childhood. They became members of Bunavista Baptist Church where Richard was baptized in 1951. Richard graduated from Borger High School in 1956 and went to work for Phillips 66.
Richard married the love of his life, Iwanna Hendricks, on August 18, 1961. He loved Iwanna more than life itself. She doesn't remember not knowing him. They grew up together in the same neighborhood, went to the same church, attended the same schools. They never dated each other in the "going steady" sense, but they knew who was picking her up on Saturday night. They were married for 62 years and were never far apart.
RT began working for Phillips 66 in 1956 as a field hand laying oil and gas pipelines and worked his way up to welder, field manager, and operations manager during his 36 years with Phillips. He knew how to work, and he worked hard. As he moved up the ranks, he and Iwanna moved from Borger to Perryton, Texas and back to Borger. He was transferred to Jakarta, Indonesia to run the field operations on Sulawati Island. From Indonesia the family moved back to the United States where RT ran the Central Texas office in La Grange, Texas. At his retirement party in 1994, all who spoke remembered his excellent work ethic and his love of Jesus.
RT loved all sports, but especially baseball and racing cars, and golf. He was a catcher for all the local baseball teams as he was growing up. Every pitcher loved him, base runners hated him, and coaches let him make the calls. Some of the best conversations held at the dinner table were about the latest baseball game and what were Noland Ryan's latest stats. His son John Mark shared his love of baseball, and his love of golf. Two of RT's favorite activities were to watch John Mark in all the high school golf tournaments and baseball tournaments over the years.
He loved fast cars. He loved to go to the car races and instilled that love of cars in his daughter, his son and his grandsons. Lee Ann remembers going to the stock car races in Ft Worth and driving home at all hours of the night. He always reminded her that just because they had stayed up late, didn't mean they could miss church the next morning.
RT and Iwanna loved to play golf. They imparted this love of the sport to most family members and spent innumerable hours on the golf course. They traveled with three different groups all over the country to play all the "fun courses", i.e. seriously difficult courses designed by legendary golf pros.
RT loved his family. He was their rock, their anchor in the storms of life, their counselor, and their biggest fan. He loved to know the latest accomplishment of each grandchild and was excited to meet his great-granddaughter and great-grandson.
On August 2, 2024, Iwanna prayed RT into the loving arms of his heavenly father.
He is survived by his wife, Iwanna (Hendricks) Brown, his daughter, Lee Ann (Brown) Bradow and her husband, Carl Wade Bradow Jr., his son John Mark Brown and his wife, Christine (Schultze) Brown. He has three grandsons, Kyle Bradow and his wife Megan, Jarred Bradow, and Aaron Bradow. He has two granddaughters, Regan Brown and Rebecca Brown. He has two great-grandchildren, Charlotte Bradow and Layton Bradow.
He will be greatly missed by all.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Psalm 1:1-3
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither -
whatever they do prospers.