Community mourns death of firefighter Clay Brown in car accident: NorthEscambia.com

The community is mourning the death of 27-year-old firefighter Clay Brown Jr., who died Saturday, June 22, in a car accident early Saturday morning. on Highway 87 north of Jay.

He was a career firefighter with the Escambia County Fire Department and a volunteer with the Jay Volunteer Fire Department.

Brown was born on September 18, 1996, in Pensacola, the son of James “Moo” and Jeanne Brown. He graduated from Jay High School in 2015, where he was a proud Jay Royal on the football and weightlifting teams. There, he formed many lasting bonds of friendship on the field, in the gym and in the classroom.

While in high school, Brown discovered his calling in the fire service and at age 16, he joined the Jay Volunteer Fire Department as a junior volunteer firefighter.

Driven by a desire to serve, Brown enlisted in the United States Navy on March 1, 2016. He was stationed in Bremerton, Washington, and during his four years of service, he was stationed in Everett, Washington, and San Diego, California.

Brown was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. During his seven-month tour of duty in the Persian Gulf, he completed one deployment, which enabled his ship to conduct strikes against ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Following his tour of duty on the USS Nimitz, Brown served as an Air Support Equipment Technician (AS3) as an F4 for the remainder of his tour of duty.

After returning to his hometown, Jay Brown enrolled in the Fire Academy to once again serve his community. He attended Northwest Florida State College for Firefighter Training I/II, where he formed many friendships with future firefighters.

After completing his training, Brown was employed by the Pace Fire Rescue District. From there he moved to the Holley-Navarre Fire District – Station 41 and then found a permanent home with the Escambia County Fire Department, serving at Station 1 in Bellview and eventually Station 7 at Ferry Pass.

Brown was an avid outdoorsman. He hunted and fished as often as possible. He was a frequent participant in duck, deer and turkey seasons. Brown was a proud member of the Travis Road Hunting Club, where he spent time at “Hunt Camp” with his father and many of his father’s longtime friends, as well as their sons and daughters. In addition to hunting, Brown also enjoyed hiking, spending much time in Idaho, which he considered his second home. His love for nature extended to farming as he always looked forward to the planting and harvest season, always lending a helping hand to his friends in the farming industry.

Family, friends and fellow firefighters will always remember Brown as a happy and great personality who brought love and light to every room he entered. He was a member of Full Gospel Community Church in Dixonville, Alabama, where he accepted Jesus into his heart and life and received the love and guidance of a special friend and lifelong pastor, Brother Bill Thompson.

Lay Brown is survived by his mother and father, Moo and Jeanne Brown, Jay, his sister, Kasey Yalch, special nephews, Jayce Clay Stokes and Jameson Haveard, and niece Sawyer Haveard. Also survived by uncles John “Cliff” Cory Brown of Jay, Don McNabb of Levittown, Pennsylvania, Michael McNabb of Waveland, Missouri, and Rick Sexton of Winchester, California; Aunts, Vicki Dixon of Pace, Jeannie Johnson of Urbana, Iowa; Uncles Harry Hawthorne, Ray Daugette and Bruce Daugette of Milton and numerous cousins ​​on both sides of his family.

He was predeceased by his grandparents, Claude and Mary Nan Brown and William and Bertha (Boots) Sexton, all of Jay. Clay was also predeceased by his uncles, William Sexton Jr. from St. Augustine, Florida, Mickey McNabb of Jemison, Florida, Wendell (Mac) McNabb of Jefferson, Florida, and Susan McNabb of Marianna, Florida.

Funeral organization

The family of Clay Brown invites you to visitation, funeral and burial services.

Visit: Thursday, June 27

• Location: True Worship Assembly of God, 13297 SR-87, Jay
• Time: 17:00-20:00
• Additional information: The number of parking spaces is limited. We encourage you to share a car

Funeral: Friday, June 28

• Location: Assembly of God’s True Worship, 13297 SR-29, Jay
• Time: 10 am
• Additional information: The number of parking spaces is limited, so it is recommended to use public transport

Funeral: Friday, June 28

• Location: Full Gospel Community Church, 9851 Travis Rd., Brewton, Ala.
• Time: Immediately after the funeral service