Crypt side service will be at 2 p.m. today (Friday) at Crestwood Cemetery for Wiley Clifford Brown, 89, Gadsden, who went to eternal rest, Tuesday, Jan. 6. Rev. Don Young will officiate. Entombment will be in Crestwood Mausoleum. Crestwood Memorial Funeral Home will direct. Mr. Brown was born in Smoke Neck south of Gadsden and raised in Gadsden. After graduating from Gadsden High School he went to work at Republic Steel. He served in the U. S. Marine Corp during World War II where he fought on Okinawa and Peleliu. He was awarded The Navy Cross for assuming command after his platoon leader was killed in the battle on Okinawa, leading the capture of a hill from the enemy. He also was awarded the Purple Heart twice; The World War II Victory Medal and The American Theater China Service medal. During the Korean conflict, he went back into the service as a drill instructor at Parris Island, N.C. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars since 1955, and to the end of his life he enjoyed many hours at Post 8600 and Post 2760. He was preceded in death by his wife, Burma Upton Brown; brother, Jack D. Brown; mother, Ossie Griffin Brown Craig; and father, H. Roy Brown. He is survived by his son, Steven Brown, Charlotte, N.C., daughter Frances Kay Wrenn; grandchildren, Kathryn Yvonne (Scott) Hess, Lebanon, IN, Daniel Dalton (Telah) Wrenn, Grant, AL, and Kimberly M. (Jason) Smith, Harvest, AL,; sisters Catherine Cash, Donaldson, IN, Frances (Gene) Blanck, Redlands, CA,; Nephews, Owen Stevens, Lou Blanck, Cambria, CA.
Pallbearers will be family and friends. The family will receive friends from 1 p.m. until the hour of service today at the Funeral Home.