AHOSKIE – Dr. Josiah Benjamin “J. B.” Brown, age 98, died Monday, December 16, 2013, at the home of his caregiver, Susan Buck.

Dr.  Brown was born on October 12, 1915 to Minnie Britton Brown and Benjamin Zebedee Brown, the oldest of six children to live on the family farm near Trap in Bertie County.

He attended College at Campbell Academy in Buies Creek and transferred to Wake Forest in 1937 where he finished his BS Degree. He then attended Medical College of Virginia where he received his doctorate in Dentistry in 1941. He was a member of the NC Dental Society.  Finally retiring in 2010 after 69 years of practice awarded him the title as North Carolina’s longest practicing dentist.

In 1942 he married Edith Martin and from this union was born three children, Betty Jane Brown Neal, Josiah Benjamin Brown, II, and Ellen Sue Davidson. He is the father of seven grandchildren and six great grandchildren.

JB’s community involvement included serving in the Ahoskie Rotary Club for 61 years, the highlight of which was the annual Rotary Pancake Supper where he cooked an estimated 50,000 pancakes! He was also a Paul Harris Fellow in 1988 and 2002.

Other involvements included serving on the committee to raise money for Ahoskie’s first community swimming pool, organizing the first Wildlife Club in Hertford County, serving on the Hertford-Gates Board of Health for ten years as chairman, and instigating one of the first Home Health Care Programs in North Carolina. Dr. Brown believed in protecting the environment and natural resources and was recognized by the North Carolina Forestry for his enrollment in Bertie County’s first Stewardship Program.

A member of the Ahoskie First Baptist Church of Ahoskie since 1942, JB was active in serving on the Board of Deacons on several occasions and co-chair of the fund raising project for the education building. His real love, however, was serving on the Building and Grounds Committee where he developed the reputation of being the go-to guy on every aspect of church maintenance and was usually seen turning off the lights and adjusting the thermostat as he left the church!

Besides his children and their spouses, B.J. and husband, David Neal, Benjie and wife, Amy Stuart Brown, and Ellen and husband, Tim Davidson, Dr. Brown is survived by a sister, Pansy Storey of Murfreesboro, and brothers, Lonnie Brown, and Howard Brown, both of Ahoskie, and Coy Brown of Kelford. Also surviving are his grandchildren, Andrew V. Brown of Los Angeles, CA, David B. Brown of Madrid, Spain, Sarah Elizabeth Brown of Kitty Hawk, Laura Stuart Brown of Chapel Hill, Sarah Nolie Brown of Del Ray, FL, and Margaret Sue Davidson and Benjamin Everett Davidson of McPherson, KS; and great grandchildren, Samson Josiah Brown, Maisie Brown, Elianna Altamarino, Tyler Altamarino, Pablo Brown, and Pilar Brown.  Besides his parents and wife, J.B. was predeceased by a sister, Helen Malinda Pierce.

A celebration of life service will be conducted on Saturday, December 21, 2013, at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist Church of Ahoskie with the Rev. Dr. Daniel Glaze and the Rev. Dr. Jesse Croom officiating.  The family will receive friends at Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service of Ahoskie on Friday, December 20, from 6:30 until 8:00 p.m.  A private burial will be in HighlandMemorialGardens.

Dr. J.B. Brown will be missed by his family, friends and community. He was a steward of all that came into his life and will be loved and remembered as an asset to all who knew him.

Garrett-Sykes Funeral Service of Ahoskie is serving the Brown family and online condolences may be sent by visiting www.garrettsykesfs.com.