Elmer O. Brown

WELLS – Elmer O. Brown, 90, died Oct. 12, 2023 at Portsmouth Regional Hospital.

Elmer was born on Feb. 12, 1933, in Trucksville, Pa., and then moved to Bethlehem, where he spent his humble childhood and youth engaged in a lot of hard work as well as some shenanigans, including a death-defying fall 51 feet into a stone quarry. He graduated from Liberty High School, and later went on to earn his college degree from the University of Maryland at the age of 50.

An Army veteran, Elmer served his country in the Korean War, before settling back in Bethlehem. In 1958, he joined the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., and then transferred to the United States Secret Service (White House Police) in 1963, during the Kennedy administration. He and his family moved to Maine in 1981, where he worked as a United States Secret Service Special Officer assigned to the Bush compound in Kennebunkport, frequently as a driver for Barbara Bush. During his tenure with the Secret Service, he traveled throughout the United States and the world, protecting not only presidents and their families, but also many other American politicians and foreign dignitaries. He was extremely proud of having served ten presidents. He retired in 2003, earning a surprise visit by former President George H. W. Bush to his retirement party.

Retirement allowed Elmer to pursue new interests, such as art classes at York County Senior College, where he served on their Board of Directors. In earlier years, he loved being a coach for his son’s Odyssey of the Mind team, and went on to become a coach, and then member, of the first-ever senior citizen’s Odyssey team, going on to win first-place honors at World Finals. For many years he was on the Board of Directors of Maine Adventures in Creativity, the state’s Odyssey affiliate. His retirement also allowed him to spend time lavishing attention on his treasured Siberian husky, Mika, the third husky and last of an untold number of dogs with whom he shared his life (including while deployed in Korea).

Elmer met Fern in 1976, in the aptly named town of Promised Land, Pa. Their unlikely romance bloomed in trips between her home in New York and his in the vicinity of Washington, D.C., with their love culminating in marriage in 1979 and a life of devotion to each other. He would always refer to Fern as the best thing that ever happened to him.

Of all Elmer’s accomplishments, he was the most proud of his family. He became a father later in life (at the age of 47) and treasured his two sons and, eventually, five grandchildren. He leaves a legacy of stories for them to share about a life lived with hard work, humor, service, and love.

Elmer was predeceased by: his parents, Evans Brown and Cora Brown Hay; brothers Richard, James, and Donald, sister, Dorothy (Townsend); and his daughter-in-law, Denise Penkalski Brown.

He is survived by: his beloved wife of 44 years, Fern; sons Joseph Brown and Dr. Michael Brown Dowling; brothers Dale and Edward; grandchildren, Kaelan, Minerva, Sam, Landon, and Cora; and many nieces and nephews.

Visiting hours will be Monday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. followed by a funeral service at 6 p.m. at Bibber Memorial Chapel, 111 Chapel Rd., Wells. Interment with military honors will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24 at Southern Maine Veteran’s Cemetery, 83 Stanley Rd., Springvale.

To share a memory or leave a message of condolence please visit Elmer’s Book of Memories Page at http://www.bibberfuneral.com.

Arrangements are in the care of Bibber Memorial Chapel, 111 Chapel Rd., Wells, ME 04090.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to

The Denise Brown

Memorial Trust,

P.O. Box 1026,

Wells, ME 04090