Phillip W. Brown

Phillip W. Brown, 77, of Shelbyville, passed away Thursday, May 29, 2014, at Franciscan St. Francis Health in Indianapolis. He was born February 17, 1937, in Shelby County, the eldest son of Warren and Blanche (Pitts) Brown. In 1957, he married Nancy E. Taylor, and she survives. Other survivors include sons, Matt Brown and wife, Barbara of Prince’s Lakes, and Doug Brown and wife, Cathy of Shelbyville; brothers, Jim Brown and wife, Linda of Manilla and Steve Brown and wife, Candi of Ft. Myers, FL; grandchildren, Zachary Brown of Cincinnati, Audrey Brown of Bloomington and Mitchell Brown and Julia Brown, both of Shelbyville; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents. Phil graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1954, and is a member of the Shelbyville High School Alumni Hall of Fame. Following SHS, he attended Wabash College and Indiana University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1957, and received his Juris Doctorate from I.U School of Law, Bloomington, in 1960. He returned to Shelbyville and started his law practice with Brunner Brown & Brunner, while also serving as a member of the U.S. Air Force Reserve from 1960 to 1966. He was called into active duty during the Cuban Missle Crisis in 1962. Phil practiced law in Shelbyville for 54 years and was the senior member of Brown DePrez & Johnson. At the end of his career, Phil was an accomplished mediator, having mediated more than 2,000 cases for courts throughout central Indiana. Professionally, Phil served on the Indiana State Bar Association Board of Governors (1983-1984 and 1993-1994), and the Bar Association honored Phil with a Presidential Citation in 1984, the Cinch Strap Award in 1994, and the Golden Career Award in 2010. Phil was a Master Fellow of the Indiana State Bar Foundation and received the Foundation’s 2007 Pro Bono Publico Award. In the public sector, Phil served as Shelby County Prosecutor (1963-1966), as Shelbyville City Attorney (1972-1975 and 1976-1979), and as the Governor’s appointee to the Board of Directors of the Hoosier Alliance Against Drugs (1989-1995), the STAR Alliance (1995-1997), and the Indiana State Police Board (1982-1989). For his service to the State, Phil received two Sagamore of the Wabash Awards, one from a Democrat Governor Evan Bayh and the other from Republican Governor Robert Orr. Locally, Phil served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Blue River Community Foundation, the Shelby County Players, and as Chairman of the Planned Giving Committee of the Major Hospital Foundation. He was also a member of the First United Methodist Church, where he held several support positions. Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 12, 2014 at First United Methodist Church, 34 W. Washington St. in Shelbyville. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Friday, June 13, 2014 at the church, with Revs. Robert Campbell and Reid Walker officiating. For anyone participating in the “Swing Fore the Cure” event at Bear Chase, please feel free to come in your golf attire. Services entrusted to Freeman Family Funeral Homes, 819 S. Harrison St. in Shelbyville. Memorial contributions may be made to the Phil and Nancy Brown Fund, an unrestricted fund to benefit the needs of Shelbyville and Shelby County, administered by the Blue River Community Foundation, 54 W. Broadway Street, Shelbyville Indiana.