Allen Brown Obituary

Brown, Allen was born in Greenwood, Mississippi, on March 31, 1939. Allen grew up in humble surroundings and loved athletics. Allen eventually honed his athletic skills to the point where he began playing minor league baseball for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Allen made it all the way to triple A ball until a right arm injury ended his dream of playing major league baseball. Allen moved to the West side of Chicago in the late 60's with his wife, Sally Mae. Allen worked as a custodian for Cook County up until his death on December 1, 2001. Allen's work ethic was remarkable, by the year 2000 he had accrued over 150 sick days which he never used in the 25 some odd years that he worked for the county. Allen's unique gift to the West side Community which he loved was coaching basketball. Allen began coaching 6th, 7th and 8th grade boys at Douglas Elementary in the early 80's. Allen served as Douglas Key's assistant coach at Douglas Elementary and the two developed a lasting friendship. In December 1998, Allen was hired to be the assistant coach at Prosser High School, where he worked up until his death. In Allen's 20 plus years of coaching, he spent countless hours with many children who unfortunately lacked father figures in their lives and desperately needed the love and time that gentle "old man Brown", as he liked to be called, provided. Allen coached 30 to 40 hours per week during the months of November, December, January, February and March for little or no monetary benefit. Allen Brown's motto to children was that life is neither fair nor easy, but through hard work and dedication anything could be accomplished. It would be impossible to quantify in number the young people that Allen touched. This dedication to positively influencing children's lives was a quality that all who knew "old man Brown" respected and admired. I imagine that by this time, Allen has met his maker and heard the words "job well done". Allen is survived by his loving wife, Sally Mae Brown and his devoted daughter, Carolyn Parker. Allen is also survived by his four loving grandchildren, Marlon Parker, Brandon Parker, Cathy Parker and Lawrence Parker. Funeral services are to be held on Saturday, December 8, 2001, at 10 a.m., at Corvin Funeral Homes, on Madison Ave. and Lorel in the City of Chicago. Sign-Guest Book at www.suntimes.com