How did the son and grandson of sharecroppers who grew up on a farm in eastern North Carolina growing tobacco, peanuts and cotton find his way to Fort Dodge for a career in education and volunteerism that has made him one of the most-respected residents of the community – and of the state of Iowa?

For Judge Brown, it is a story of determination, dedication and yes, a bit of luck.

It was the fall of 1973 when Brown left North Carolina to take his first fulltime job at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri., teaching history and establishing the first teacher education lab school at the historically Black university.

“When I taught in the lab school, I met Dennis Williams, who taught English at Fort Dodge Senior High School,” Brown said. “He was from Jefferson City, and I met him through his family – I knew his mother because she had her grandchildren at the lab school. He told me about an opening in social studies at the high school.”

Brown applied, was hired, and moved in 1977 to Fort Dodge – where he taught at FDSH for nine years and at Iowa Central Community College for 19 years – and where he volunteered in a wide variety of public service.

About his unusual first name of Judge? Well, it was inherited from his father, also named Judge Brown. He wears it proudly, but … “In college, kids would tease with ‘Here come da judge, here come da judge’ (from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In show). I get mail addressed to the Honorable Judge Brown. At an education conference in Des Moines, when I asked a question of an attorney, he responded, ‘Well, your honor…’ I told him, ‘I’m not a judge, I’m a schoolteacher.'”

Brown’s grandfather, Robert Brown, and father, Judge Brown, were sharecroppers on a farm outside Bethel, a community of 1,500 on the far eastern edge of North Carolina – about 80 miles from the Atlantic Coast. They grew tobacco, peanuts, cotton, and some soybeans.

Brown was one of nine children of Judge and Helen Hopkins Brown. Six of them are still living: Robert, who lives in Bethel; Alice Brown Howard, in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Helen Ruth Bullock, in Greenville, N.C.; Vernon, in Robersonville, N.C., and Clarence, in Aurora, Colo. His deceased siblings were Gloristine, of Arlington, Va.; Patricia (Ann), of Raleigh, N.C., and Roy, of Bethel.

Brown was born in Bethel, grew up on a farm outside of town and rode a bus into Bethel to attend school. By the time he was in fourth grade, he said he knew he wanted to be a teacher.

“Teachers got to go to work all nicely dressed, they looked professional, they got a paycheck every month,” he said. “They didn’t have to wait to get paid until fall when the harvest was in. They didn’t have to go through the physical struggles and uncertainty that people like my dad did. I didn’t like to get my hands dirty. When you work in tobacco, farming is dirty work and something that did not interest me. With teaching, I thought to myself, ‘I’d like to do that.'”

He spent summers in high school in New Haven, Connecticut., where his mother’s three brothers and sister lived – working in restaurant kitchens for two summers, at a radiator manufacturing company another summer and as a soda jerk at Macy’s another summer.

Brown attended North Carolina Central University in Durham – the first of his family to attend college – and graduated in 1968 with a bachelor’s degree in American history with a minor in geography.

He was one semester into graduate school when Uncle Sam came knocking: He was drafted into the Army in 1969 and after training as a medic, he shipped to Vietnam where he served for 14 months. He was assigned to the 23rdArtillery Group at a headquarters aid station at Base Camp Phu Loi, about 20 miles north of Saigon.

“My mom was petrified, and she made sure I took my Bible with me,” he said. “My wish was to come back the way I had gone, with no trauma, with no injury – and that happened. I’m very thankful for that. I did what I had to do and came back and went on with my life. I was blessed.”

To this day, he has kept that Bible, presented to him when he graduated from college, in his home office.

Brown returned to graduate school and earned a master’s degree in American history at Central, the first publicly supported historic black college in the nation. He moved in 1973 to Lincoln University in Jefferson City and then – thanks to the tip from Williams – to Fort Dodge in 1977. Sadly, his father died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 50 at the time he accepted the offer.

Brown taught at FDSH for nine years and it was there that he met Shirley Harper-Lockman – a well-known Fort Dodge school employee and active community member herself. They were married from 1993 until her death in January 2019.

“Judge Brown was my favorite teacher,” said Judi Flaherty Johnson of Fort Dodge, a 1983 FDSH graduate who took his Ethnic Studies course. “He was so relatable and was able to teach us about diversity in the world from a classroom in small-town Iowa. He would teach, not preach, and that made him very approachable, charismatic, and interesting. I ran into him a few years ago and he was still the same!”

Charles Clayton, a student when Brown taught at FDSH and today founder and executive director of Athletics for Education and Success, said: “Judge was like the wise old sage when I was going through high school and even as I got older, as a mentor figure. He would play the devil’s advocate just to challenge you and make sure you were thinking through things completely and weighing your options on decisions.

“He has done so much for Black students in Fort Dodge and across Iowa, both on a personal level and fighting battles behind the scenes.”

Brown followed his high school teaching with a term and a half on the community school board. He was director of the Fort Dodge Urban Ministry from 1986-91 and moved to Des Moines when he joined the Iowa Department of Education as a consultant for school integration and multicultural integration. In that position, he traveled regularly to 12 desegregation districts across the state, including Fort Dodge.

He was there until 1998, when then-Iowa Central President Bob Paxton offered him a position at Iowa Central.

“Shirley and I had been married five years,” he said. “It was time to come home. I stopped being a road warrior – traveling all over the state.”

At Iowa Central, he first worked in administration and then ended up as fulltime teacher in social sciences. His favorite course: Fundamentals of American government.

“I like politics and law and it just struck my fancy,” he said. “I would every now and then schedule current events quizzes, make my students read the newspaper and pay attention to the news. They had to go to public meetings, school board meetings, legislative forums, city council meetings. They learned so much from these.”

Brown took early retirement in 2007. He had started teaching an online course in American history four years earlier and when he retired, he was invited to continue to teach online, which he did until 2017 when he retired, again, at the age of 71.

Since 2008, Brown has served as a volunteer at Friendship Haven, working with residents of the Simpson Health Center.

“Judge Brown is a part of the fabric of Friendship Haven,” said Julie Thorson, its president and CEO. “His kindness and compassion mean so much to all of us. He has carved out the perfect niche for his own time and special talents on the Friendship Haven campus. Nearly every Sunday for more than a decade, Judge has made a significant contribution in helping residents get from their homes in the Simpson Health Center to our worship service in the Tompkins Celebration Center. We also often see Judge on weekdays escorting residents across campus to gatherings with friends for coffee and conversation.

“Not only does Judge lend a helping hand, but his presence also energizes any room he enters, his interest is genuine and loving, and his endearing smile is a reminder that we’re all family at Friendship Haven.”

Brown was recognized in 2021 as the LeadingAge Iowa Volunteer of the Year at a banquet in Cedar Rapids and noted at the time, “I’ve always really enjoyed being around older people for as long as I can remember. I think it’s because I didn’t have my own grandparents around much when I was growing up. As a younger man, I never had that opportunity to sit around and drink coffee and talk about things with people who have experience and wisdom on their side.

“I hear all kinds of interesting stories when I’m at Friendship Haven. It’s a wonderful crowd. You know, they’re at a stage in their lives where they’re just thankful for every day they’re given. They don’t have personal agendas. They’re not trying to be something they aren’t. It’s just a very simple, pure perspective. I appreciate the relationship I have with those folks so much, and have ever since I started there.”

Brown always stayed active with a wide variety of boards and committee assignments.

He has been involved since 1982 in the Harry Meriwether Scholarship, started by Elder LeRoy Johnson of Calvary Church, which has provided more than 200 scholarships over the years to Black or biracial Black students. He spent 10 years as a member of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) – a good fit, he said, because he was raised by a mother “who didn’t take any stuff.” Brown served for U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and U.S. Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, as an interviewer for military academy students. And he served on the 2nd Judicial District nominating committee, interviewing judge candidates.

He’s also served as a volunteer with the Teener League baseball program, Webster County Crime Stoppers, AARP, the African American Museum of Iowa in Cedar Rapids and Urban Vision in Des Moines.

Brown has three stepsons, Shirley’s sons from her previous marriage: Alan Lockman, of Farnhamville; Daniel Lockman, of Fort Dodge, and David Lockman, of Minneapolis. He has five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

“It’s been a great ride for me,” Brown said. “Part of it is that I work with great people, people who received me from the time I came here at Senior High.”

What may his friends not know about him?

“I’m a decent cook when I put my mind to it,” he said. “But since I am diabetic, that’s a bit limited.

“I’m a big fan of classical music. I started listening to it while in college while taking music appreciation. I love classical music – especially Iowa Public Radio Classical. I have Alexa, now, I tell her, ‘Play Iowa Public Radio classical station’ – and play it all day.”