Bernard O. Brown

The Rev. Bernard Owen Brown, 93, retired Dean of Rockefeller Chapel and Associate Professor in the University of Chicago Divinity School; passed away peacefully October 7, 2023, at home in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. Brown first came to U of C to study at what was then called the Federated Theological Schools of the University of Chicago. He received his B.D. in 1955 and was ordained a Methodist minister in 1956. Brown served as associate director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Minnesota until 1958. He then served as minister of the Protestant chapel at the University of the Philippines until 1962. In 1963, he returned to Chicago to study at the Divinity School. He received his A.M. in 1965 and his Ph.D. in 1973. From the time he returned a student, Brown has held various positions at the University. From 1963 to 1965, he was a Danforth Campus Ministry fellow. He was then Minister for the Interchurch Committee on International Students until 1970, when he became Associate Director of International House and Associate Adviser to Foreign Students. In 1973, Brown joined the faculty of the Divinity School as Assistant Professor, serving for the next six years as Coordinator and then Director of Ministerial Studies at the Divinity School. He was named Associate Professor in 1979, the same year he became Dean of Rockefeller Chapel. Brown has published numerous articles for religious journals and publications and is the author of Ideology and Community Action (1978). In the Divinity School, he has taught primarily on issues related to ethics and society as well as courses on ministry and preaching. Brown also has been an active presence in the community, serving at various times as director of the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference, as a consultant to Crossroads International Student Center, and as a representative of the Ray School PTA. He also has performed with the Rockefeller Chapel Choir, the Lyric Opera Supplementary Choir, the Chicago Light Opera Company and the Gilbert & Sullivan Opera Company. Beloved spouse of 72 years to Carol Jean Brown (nee Smith); devoted father of Lizbeth (Van) Bistrow, Christopher (Johanna Poethig) Brown, Julia (Paul) Sutter, the late Jonathan (Rebecca Loew) Brown, Peter (Rebecca) Brown, and Lincoln (Sara Diwan) Brown. Adored grandfather of Douglas (Becky) Bistrow, Ruth (Adam Meyer) Bistrow, Laura Sutter, Rachel (Josh Leve) Sutter-Leve, Megan Sutter, Monica (Tim Porter) Brown, Malcolm Brown, Amelia Loew, Adam Loew, and Maxwell Brown. Great-grandfather of Ray Bistrow, Ella Bistrow, Sienna Sutter-Leve, Brooks Sutter-Leve, Camden Sutter-Leve, Nicholas Sutter, and Bernard Meyer. Private green burial at Casper Creek Natural Cemetery, Galena, Illinois. A public memorial, featuring music by the Rockefeller Chapel Choir and current and past University Organists, is scheduled for Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in Rockefeller Memorial Chapel. Memorial donations may be made in his name to a fund to be announced. Please check back to this website for further information as it becomes available. Arrangements by Inclusive Funeral Care, 773-370-2959 or www.InclusiveFuneralCare.com.

Bernard O. Brown

May 24, 1930 - October 7, 2023