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CAPE CARTERET, NC – Walter Jay Brown, III, 79, went to be with his Heavenly Father on Thursday, August 20, 2020, from his home at Cambridge Village in Apex, where his family was by his side, after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Born on April 5, 1941 in Hertford County, he was the son of the late Walter Jay Brown, Jr. and Ellen Howard Brown. Raised in Murfreesboro, Walter’s childhood was surrounded by family as his uncle and aunt lived across the street, allowing for him to become very close to his cousins growing up. He attended boarding school at Westtown in Pennsylvania, after which he spent his college years attending Guilford College in Greensboro, where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry. After graduation, he followed many careers, initially starting off in the dental equipment sales business, later as part owner of FRAM fiberglass company, and lastly as the owner and operator of casket manufacturing businesses, Terra Sales in Conway, and Woodland Manufacturing in Woodland.

Walter met his wife, Janice Harrell, of Gates County, on a blind date with her brother and his wife and were later married on December 7, 1973 in a small private ceremony in Cape Carteret. There they spent their early married years by the water, which as many would tell you made them both happy. In 2005, Walter and Janice retired to Cape Carteret to return to the area where they married, and to be back by the water.

Surviving with Janice, his wife of nearly 47 years, are two sons, Wade Harrell Brown and wife, Paige, of Fuquay Varina, and Walter Jay Brown, IV and wife, Adrianne of Apex. Also surviving are Janice’s children, Glenn Douglas Lilley and wife, Martha, of Gatesville, and Jennifer Lilley Paris of Cape Carteret. Together, Walter and Janice shared four grandchildren, Catherine Lilley McLean (deceased in 2019), and husband, Dustin, of Reidsville, Amanda Lilley Teachey and husband, Carl, of Winston-Salem, Parker Galloway of Newport News, VA, and Lindy Brown of Fuquay Varina; and a great-grandson, Corbin McLean of Reidsville. Walter also leaves behind his younger brother, Matthew Howard Brown and wife, Carol, of Hilton Head, SC, and their daughter, Elizabeth Brown of Los Angeles, CA.

A graveside service was held Sunday, August 23 in the Cedar Grove Quaker Cemetery in Woodland, (behind the Friends Meeting House, 303 Main Street), conducted by Recorded Minister Robert Gosney.

The family asks that contributions in his memory be directed to either: Rich Square Monthly Meeting (Cedar Grove Meeting House), P.O. Box 482, Woodland, NC 27897, or to Transitions LifeCare, 250 Hospice Circle, Raleigh, NC 27607.

Miller Funeral Home, 304 Main Street, Gatesville, is handling arrangements, and online condolences may be made by visiting www.millerfhc.com.