David Francis Brown

David Francis Brown

September 9, 1963 – September 3, 2026

Dave came into the world on a frosty Monday morning in September with two strikes against him—he was a “blue “ baby and he had Down’s Syndrome. He never really let it slow him down. With 6 other siblings, he grew up in Billings Montana loved and protected. He became a man who loved and was loved by many.

For all of his life, his greatest joy was spending time with his family, especially on holidays or going out to lunch. Davey made plans months ahead for his birthday and holidays—any holiday. And he checked on those plans frequently, sometimes a year in advance! In every conversation, he asked about how every family member was doing and always said to tell them he loved them.

He was a happy child, laughing and excited to learn anything new, even if it took a little time. He learned how to write his name and numbers and suddenly they were everywhere…on walls, in notebooks, on any paper lying around, on the chime clock face. Even in later life many of his items wore DFB or David Brown on them, especially his 80’s cd’s. David also learned a second language. He “spoke” American Sign Language, ASL, and often signed his messages of friendship and love.

David was an artist of many disciplines: dance, textiles, drawing, coloring. His latch hooked rugs were often turned into wall hangings. His colored artworks from Growth Thru Art were vibrant pieces, almost stained glass-like. When his eyesight began to worsen, he turned to weaving potholders for everyone he knew, then to colorful drawings and finally to coloring pages. He always told everyone, “I am a great artist.” And, he was.

His life was filled with many accomplishments that even regular folks don’t often enjoy. He and his classmates flew to Seattle to perform before an auditorium of educators to demonstrate how music—guitar playing—could benefit special people. Using his ASL second language, he danced and signed to rock songs, performing all over Billings with the Solid Gold Dancers. He had a major role as Bustopher Jones in the special performance of the musical Cats at the fairgrounds in Billings. He was a Special Olympian for many years and a pretty fair bowler until his balance became an issue. The balance problem finally forced him to give up trips to the gas station down the street from his apartment. He just wasn’t fast enough with his walker to cross the Grand Avenue traffic to get his regular coffee fix and his diabetes forbidden candy bars.

He held many jobs: CORE, Goodwill, Pizza Hut, Kelly Inn, Havre Day Activity. His proudest and longest lasting employment—over ten years— was Dave’s Delivery. Through Job Connection, Dave owned the business of delivering coffees to workers in the building and nearby businesses. At the last, he was using his wheeled walker as a coffee transport, always with a smile.

And, most of all for those who knew him, he’ll be remembered for his love of music. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of the 80’s music and could name just about any song or group playing within a minute or two. His collection of cd’s and players was impressive and a new specific cd (and the T-shirt to match) was always a birthday/Christmas/just because request.

I guess David’s life could be summed up as a joyous journey with some potholes and bumps that he dealt graciously with, usually with a shrug and, “That’s just the way I am”, comment…and always with more kindness and forgiveness than many of us manage. As Abba sang to him from his beloved cd while he battled pneumonia on his last day, “Without a song or a dance, what are we? So thank you for the music, for giving it to me.”

Thank you, David, for giving your life’s music to us.