More detail on this person: Kenneth Lee Brown
passed away on Wednesday, August 8, 2012 at the
age of 68. He was a native of Sulphur, Louisiana
and a resident of Baton Rouge. Ken was an active
member of First United Methodist Church. He
graduated from LSU with a degree in Petroleum
Engineering in 1971, and received a M.S. in
Contract and Acquisition Management in 1979.
Kenneth was an avid supporter of LSU football and
loved his motorcycles. Ken is survived by his wife
of 45 years, Carole Anne Brown; three daughters:
Mary-Margaret Zabalaoui and her husband James
Zabalaoui of Huntsville, AL; Rebecca Valadie and
her husband Toby Valadie of Baton Rouge; and
Catherine Collins and her husband Michael Collins
of Slidell. He has 7 grandchildren; Ashleigh
Zabalaoui, Justin Zabalaoui, Helen Valadie,
William Valadie, Elise Valadie, Julia Valadie, and
Kenneth Collins. Kenneth is also survived by his
two sisters: Evelyn Brown Vincent and her husband
James Vincent; Susan Brown LeLeaux and her
husband Mark LeLeaux. He was preceded in death
by his parents Lee and Inola Brown of Sulphur, and
his sister Joyce Brown of Sulphur. Ken served more
than 22 years in the US Army, from which he
retired as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1988. He began
as a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Then, he was
commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. During his
Army career, he was responsible for building a
Naval Air Facility in Sigonella, Italy,
remediation of nuclear waste at the nation's
Pacific bomb test area at Enewetak, assistant
chief of a project in the Office of the Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Affairs at
Army Headquarters in Washington, DC, and the
final design and construction of the Red River
Water Way as the Deputy District Engineer of the
Vicksburg District. Ken earned the respect of
everyone with whom he served, especially for his
ability to apply a common sense decision making
process to every situation. His military service
was recognized by the receipt of numerous awards
and decorations that include the Legion of Merit
Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious
Service Medal, the Bronze Star, the Humanitarian
Service Award, the Army Commendation Medal, the
Defense Superior Service Medal, and twenty-two Air
Medals as well as others. Ken was President of
BCG Engineering and Consulting of Metairie. Under
his leadership, his firm made substantial
contributions to the improvement of flood and
hurricane protection in South Louisiana,
particularly in Jefferson and Orleans Parishes. He
was an influential voice in the call for coastal
protection and restoration initiative as he
directed efforts to address the beneficial use of
Mississippi River sediment. Ken led the effort to
obtain the Congressional authorization necessary
to establish the Southeast Louisiana Project
(SELA), a project that has resulted in significant
improvement to the canals and pumping stations in
Jefferson and Orleans Parishes and will continue
to result in improvement to these and other
Parishes. Kenneth will be remembered as a loving
husband, father, brother and grandfather to his
family. To all who knew him throughout his life he
will be remembered as a friend, mentor and, to
some, a competitor who possessed those traits of
character, honesty and integrity we would hope to
see in all. He will be fondly remembered and
missed. Visitation will be held Friday, August 10,
2012 from 1pm-3pm at First United Methodist
Church with memorial service at 3:00pm, 930 North
Boulevard, Baton Rouge.
Published in The Times-Picayune from August 8 to
August 10, 2012
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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