Earl Brown passed away at the age of 59 on April 15th with family by his side. He was born in Gold Beach, Oregon to Betty and Donald Brown, he had seven siblings.  He is a Yurok Tribal Citizen. As a child he lived in Montana and Washington but spent the majority of his life living in Del Norte County.

He attended Redwood Elementary in his middle school years, and graduated from Del Norte High School in 1982. He enrolled in College of the Redwoods Del Norte in the summer of 1996. After graduating with his AA he transferred to Humboldt State University where he graduated in December of 2000 with a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration, and Minor in Economics. He would drive from Smith River to Arcata multiple times a week to be able to attend his classes and still be at home with his family in the evenings. His biggest reason for going back to school was to be a better provider for his children. He stayed motivated throughout his higher education journey because he knew he wanted to work with local Tribal communities.

He has a large family and enjoyed all the get-togethers they had. He played Santa every Christmas and was in charge of passing out all the gifts. He had long hair for most of his life, it wasn’t until after his sister Beth died that he cut his hair and never grew it out again. He loved wearing his crochet caps with his hair braided. Earl enjoyed camping and fishing, and loved gill netting on the Klamath River. He also enjoyed snorkeling, swimming, and jumping off rocks on the beautiful Smith River.

Earl was involved in Tolowa and Yurok culture. He loved the outdoors and spent time with family at the beach for fish camp. He enjoyed woodworking and made several drums over the years. He was an avid dancer in his younger years and raised his children to participate in the culture as well. He instilled the importance of education and culture with his children at a young age. Earl always shared stories about spending time with his Yurok and Tolowa elders who taught him the history and language of the old ways.

Earl loved his career of 18 years helping Tribal Citizens with housing in Yurok and Tolowa Country. He paved the road for what is today the Dat-naa-svt Housing Village. He oversaw the development of See-waa-dvn, Chit-xu mee-ne’ and the Elder housing behind Lucky 7 Casino. He managed an all Tribal Citizen crew and truly loved when they were able to rehab Tribal Citizen homes.

Before his passing Earl recalled attending a Merv George dance at the fairgrounds in 1994. He said he saw a long-legged lady walk in with his sister Rose and the rest was history. Earl fell in love with Janelle and her two children who at the time were ages 2 and 6. He raised Emily and Cara as his own. Earl and Janelle had a son of their own, Guschu in 1995. They were married in 2001, their wedding is still remembered and was considered the party of that year. They raised their family and resided in Smith River on the reservation until his passing.

Earl was preceded in death by his father Donald, father-in-law Mike, Sister Beth, Brother-in-Law Les, Sister-in-law Rayona, Brother-in-law David, Uncle Ray, Uncle Eddie, Aunt Ethel Chase and Aunt Veda McCovey.

Earl leaves behind his mother Betty, mother in law Phyllis, wife Janelle, children Cara and her partner Mike, Emily and her husband Thomas, and his only son Guschu Brown. He is also survived by his granddaughters Annalena, Tee-me’, Marlee and Willow. His newest and greatest joy was his grandson Phoenix. Earl also leaves behind his siblings, Rose (Gary), Nieca, Arthena (Niano), Yvonne, Charlie and Roy. His sister in law Dawn (Dennis) and several nieces and nephews.    

When Earl spoke about his grandchildren he always said they are the "lights of my life". They became his greatest joy after becoming too ill to work.  He said his best advice he could give if he had a second chance at life was “don’t drink, life is so much better without it”. He loved having pets over the years and often referred to them as his “furry kids” and “furry grandkids”.

He was an avid 49er fan. He was able to attend three live games and they won all three games he attended. He would always remind people that he was a 49er fan and would enjoy talking about football, news, music or movies.  

He wanted to thank the doctors and staff that helped him during his hospitalizations at Sutter Coast Hospital. He also wanted to thank people in advance for supporting his family and friends during this hard time.

Graveside services officiated by Dan Allen will be held on Thursday, April 20th at 3pm at the Howonquet Cemetery in Smith River. A potluck and celebration of life will follow at the Howonquet Hall Community Center. The family asks that you wear crochet caps or 49er colors to his services. His pallbearers are his greatest friends Travis Latimier, Sean Berry, Roy Lyle, Eric Brundin, Garrett Campbell, Ron Richards, and his son-in-law Thomas Reed.

His honorary pallbearers are his son Guschu Brown, brother Roy Brown, Michael Kuhn, Billy Fender, Brother-in-law Niano Santos, and nephews Niano "Brother" Santos,  HopPow Norris and Nicholas Wright.

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