Carroll Edker Brown (C.E.), age 82, of Riverview, Florida, entered into the presence of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Monday, August 24 ^th 2020.

Carroll was born to Elmer Paul Brown and Virginia Lee Brown (Baxter) on January 2 ^nd 1938 in Hiwassee, North Carolina in a small makeshift hospital located at the base of the Hiwassee Dam. Carroll's birthplace is now under water where the dam's reservoir was later filled to capacity after his father finished its construction.

After Carroll was born, the Brown family relocated to Elizabethton, Tennessee where Carroll spent his entire childhood and teenage years growing up. "Poor Little Carroll," as Aunt Mattie used to call him, used to ride along on the wagon with his Uncle J.D. selling watermelons door to door. Nobody could say no to Carroll because he was such a cute little boy.

Carroll graduated from Elizabethton, High School in 1954 at the early age of 16, and soon enrolled himself in the business administration program at the East Tennessee State College in Johnson City, Tennessee. While attending college there, he and his best friend, Roy Bledsoe, were on a debate team in which they competed in a state college debate with other teams. Roy, inadvertently, locked their two brief cases in his car which contained all their notes crucial for the debate. Carroll was able to quickly borrow two brief cases from another debate team and told Roy to follow his cue and act convincing. They pulled it off and ended up winning the whole debate. Talk about being slick.

In 1957, Carroll received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration and was soon employed as a manager at the WT Grant department store. He was transferred to the WT Grant store in Louisville, Kentucky where he later married Janice Sue Klinglesmith in 1959, on April 15 ^th . Their first date lasted 14 hours which consisted of attending Sunday morning church service, swimming at the lake, eating cherry pie at the restaurant, and going to a drive-in movie.

After enlisting in the Army Reserves as a medic, Carroll was transferred to Fort Knox Army Base where he worked in the Ireland Army Hospital for the next six months. When Carroll's enlistment ended, he and Janice moved to Hartford, Connecticut where he worked for Traveler's Insurance Company as an insurance underwriter. Their daughter Debbie was born in 1961.

In 1963, Carroll was able to secure employment in Louisville, Kentucky as an insurance underwriter for the Ohio Casualty Insurance Company. Carroll continued to work as an underwriter until he was promoted to manager of the Louisville branch office. While living in Louisville, their son Jimmy was born in 1969.

When Carroll was thirty-one years old, he realized he wasn't truly a saved born-again Christian. While babysitting Debbie and Jimmy, who were already fast asleep in bed, he got down on his knees in the dining room and wept, asking the Lord Jesus to forgive him of all his sin and become his Lord and Savior. As soon as Janice came back from church, he told her the good news and Janice was very happy. Later, in 1980, Carroll was ordained as a minister by the Assembly of God Church but continued to work in insurance to support his family.

In 1983, Carroll moved his family to Saint Petersburg, Florida where he requested a transfer as the manager of the Saint Petersburg branch office for the Ohio Casualty Insurance Company. The family often vacationed in Florida and thought it would be nice to live where they could enjoy the nice weather and beaches. Carroll spent many nights walking with his son, Jimmy, who loved to talk to his daddy about anything and everything. While living in Clearwater, Florida in December of 1983, Carroll was the officiating minister who married his daughter Debbie to Michael Hadden, a respected member of the United States Coast Guard. Carroll Brown was truthfully the best father a son or daughter could ever have!

In 1985, Carroll was promoted to Vice President of Marketing for the Ohio Casualty Insurance Company which required him to relocate to Hamilton, Ohio. He moved his family to Fairfield, Ohio which was a nice suburb located near Hamilton. Carroll was put in charge of organizing company trips which enabled Janice and him to travel the world. They put Carroll in charge of organizing these trips primarily because they knew he was responsible and did not drink alcohol like the other executives. While in London, he was asked to say the prayer in the House of Parliament prior to eating dinner at a large table where all the Ohio Casualty Executive Officers sat. He cleverly gave the whole plan of salvation in that prayer.

Carroll retired from Ohio Casualty in 1996 at age 58 and moved with Janice to Chattanooga, Tennessee for two years where he could help his father. In 1998, Carroll moved back to Florida where he spent his remaining years with Janice. Both of their children chose to live in Florida because they wanted to be close to their parents. That's what happens when you have immense love in the family for one another.

Carroll died peacefully while sitting in his recliner early in the morning. He was blessed to die naturally with no pain in such a dignified way. He is survived by his wife Janice, his son Jimmy, his daughter Debbie, his three grandchildren (Marilyn, Jerry and Daviel) and his beautiful daughter-in-law, Luisa. He will be truly missed by all of us until he's reunited with his family in heavenly glory.