One of the first WGNS on air personalities and advertising specialist Jerry "Pee Wee" Brown died this past Sunday (2/12/17) at age 90.
After his military service, Brown returned to Murfreesboro and was employed in the late 1940's to be the morning announcer on the first radio station in Rutherford County, WGNS.
Longtime WGNS broadcaster and former State Representative John Hood said, "I remember Jerry Brown as Mr. WGNS, as he graced the radio waves with his voice for so many years. Further I recall Jerry (Pee Wee) as a fine musician, playing with Carl Tipton and others on many WGNS' broadcasts. Especially when we broadcast every day at from Leverette and Norris Mobil Station at the corner of Maple and College Streets. He will be missed."
Brown worked at the Good Neighbor Station for 38 years, and was well-known as the early morning "voice on WGNS", which included Swap'n Shop--still on the air 70+ years later.
Bart Walker remembers, "Jerry had that pleasant, friendly voice, that every listener identified as their friend. Jerry would be the only contact each day with some residents who were living alone. No matter what he was doing, he would stop and let them know they were special and had a friend who truly cared about them."
He is especially remembered for his Hub Department Store commercial "Boots, Boots, Boots".
(Jerry Brown with "Boots, Boots, Boots")
Brown was one of the pioneers of WGNS remote broadcasts, and was associated with the annual Uncle Dave Macon Days, which he helped to emcee for many years.
Pee Wee was also a talented guitar picker, and often played with some of the "local hillbilly bands" who were broadcast live each morning on WGNS--including the Mid-State Playboys, the Jesters, and others.
Jerry had a "country music band" that played square dances every Saturday night for many years at the Old Marhaden School in the Percy Priest Lake area of Davidson County.
He left WGNS in 1985 to give television a try. Later his vocal talents took him to the Rutherford County Sheriffs Office where he was a dispatcher. and with Castleman Motors in Smyrna.
He was born July 15, 1926, in Wilson County, TN to the late Virgil Vestle and Effie Estelle Brown. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Edna Louise Simmons, and a brother Ralph Winell Brown. Jerry lived and worked all of his life in Murfreesboro. He was a veteran of WWII, serving the US Army as mortar gunner in Company A, 34th Infantry. Mr. Brown was of the Baptist faith.
FAMILY:
He is survived by his wife Angela Sharon Marino Brown, daughter, Patricia Faye (Leland) Carden; son, Jerry Dwain (Pat) Brown; four grandchildren, seven great-grandchildren; his step-daughter and devoted caretaker Cindy Lowery; and several step-grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Visitation with family will be from 5pm - 7pm Thursday evening (2/16/2017) at Murfreesboro Funeral Home (145 Innsbrooke Boulevard at South Church Street). The funeral service will follow at 7:00 that evening.
Officiating, Reverend Leland T. Carden.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that donations be made to DAV (Disabled American Veterans), Nashville, TN. Union St & 6th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37219
