Brown is survived by his daughters Jacqueline Brown, Sharon Tyrell, Shermel Brown, Hilarine Harvey, Muriel Francis, Gwender Nisbett-Francis, Yvonne Browne; sons Ezekiel, Stanley (Stone), Maurice (Mario) and Elroy Francis, Richard Allen; brothers Stanley Browne, Wingrove Queeley-Browne, Merrill Liburd.
He had seven nieces and five nephew.
His cousins included the Browne, Richards, and Freeman families, the Hendrickson family, the Sutton family, Everette Richards and family in St. Thomas, Estelle Gilfillan, Dorothy Liburd and the rest of the Natta/ Liburd Families, Maria Natta and family, Sandrine Natta and family.
Brown’s grandchildren and Junisha Tyrell, Aren Jeppesen, Milana Brown, Cydie Griffin, Nickie Powell, Nagala and Levaughn Nisbett, Allen (Rockaman) Brewley, Afiya and Ayinde Augustus, Asim, Demeka, Pearl Monique and Imar Francis, James Harvey, Tyrone and Cassandra Francis, Elijah and Alyssa Francis, Z’armani Emmanuel, Keisha, Elroy Jr., Deroy and Kadeem Francis, Shavonne Williams, Leroy Pantlitz Jr..
He had 33 great grand children.
Brown was godfather to Erica Benjamin, Averil George, Diane and Cherryl Fahie, Shauna Fahie–Eusebe, Alex Liburd, Trever Elliot, Elroy (Georgie) and Collin Freeman, Kalema Wade, Jaheim Wilkin, Mauricia Liburd, Keishante Thomas, Kanisha James, Jahmal Harris, Sharron Hill, Diane Edwards, Errol Halbert.
His in-laws include Junie Tyrell, Mclean Augustus, Clarence Nisbett, Billie Jean Browne, Veronica Browne, and Diane Liburd.
Special friends include Fr. Alric Francis, Rev. Dr. Jeremy Francis, Millicent Joseph, Davis Glasgow, Camella Rogers, Helge Jeppesen, Pearl Blackman, Mr. Wickham, Benson Morton, Johnathan Walter, Marsha Hendrickson-Slack, Atty. Barbara Hardtman, Bernice George and Family, Gary’s Bakery and Deli, Patsy Liburd and Family, Nick Mills, Hardy, Tony Carrion, Massicot Family, Rueben Cipriani and Family, Marilyn Stanley, James Liburd, Faustina Richardson, Beryl Prentice, Helen Clarke, Lemuel Smitten, Florine Hanley, Janice Cole, Alfred Browne, Gloria and Noel Euzebe, Joycelyn Powell and Family, Marjorie Moorehead and family, Hess/ Hovensa Family, Leo and Noreen Richards, Cynthia Gurley-Martin, Lefty Elliot, Ebenezer Bethel and Community Methodist Church Family, St. Peters Episcopal Church Family, Jaqueline Gomez, Gallows Bay Bayside Crew, Winifred Jonas, Judith Dyer-Miller, Adrianna Sutton, and Leonardo Challenger.
A friends and family viewing is scheduled on Nov. 6, between 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the Divine Chapel.
Funeral service is scheduled on Nov. 7 at Ebenezer Methodist Church, Christiansted. The viewing is at 9 a.m. and service is at 10 a.m. Interment will follow at the Kingshill Cemetery. 
From Claude O. Markoe Elementary School to the DC Canegata Ballpark, St. Croix was abuzz on Tuesday morning as Crucians turned out to make their voices heard in the 2024 Virgin Islands General Election.
Elaine Spencer, the voting center judge overseeing Markoe, said the island’s westernmost voting center had seen “steady” traffic. By 8:45 a.m., 113 people had cast their vote in contests for delegate to Congress, the V.I. Legislature, the Board of Elections, the Board of Education and the Sixth Constitutional Convention.
“Just come out and vote,” she said. “It’s an easy process.”
Voting center judge Daniel Sierra said at approximately 9:30 a.m. that everything had been “going smooth” at St. Croix Central High School. At DC Canegata, voting center judge Eurece Hendricks said things had been “pretty busy,” with 211 ballots cast by 10:09 a.m.
“Come prepared with your ID or someone to assist with the voting,” she advised, noting that some people require help navigating the voting process.
Elections Board member Florine Audain Hassell, making the rounds on Tuesday morning, said “the process is fair and the process is transparent.”
“Your vote is your voice and your voice is your vote,” she said. “Use your voice wisely and vote.”
Territory-wide, 1,387 people had voted on St. Thomas, 157 on St. John and 1,622 on St. Croix by noon, according to a press release issued by the Elections System.
At least one attempted voter, St Croix candidate for Board of Elections Mary Moorhead, was escorted out of a St. Croix voting center by law enforcement.
Sgt. Kirk Fieulleteau said in a statement provided to the Source that he received a call from Elections Supervisor Caroline Fawkes on Tuesday morning notifying him of a “disturbance” at the Claude O. Markoe voting center.
Fieulleteau, who traveled to Markoe to meet with the resident, said she was not arrested.
“She was detained and removed from the premises because she refused to comply with the orders made by the Board of Elections and she refused my lawful order to leave on her own,” he said.
Outside the voting centers, throngs of people danced, cheered and brandished signs in support of their preferred candidates.
Speaking to the Source outside Claude O. Markoe, Tyrique Evans — better known in the community as Big Man Pas — said he thought the three biggest issues for St. Croix voters this year were infrastructure, youth rehabilitation and healthcare. Evans said voters can get caught up in which candidate had the best fish fry or the most familiar name.
“But we don’t vet the candidates,” he said, encouraging voters to do their homework. Evans reminded Virgin Islanders that elected officials work for the people.
“We’re the bosses,” he said.
Almost 25 years ago, I bought a ring at a St. Croix jewelry shop. It had all the tiny little inset diamonds I could afford, and a short-term insurance policy. The policy, I explained to the jewelry clerk, was because I intended to put the ring on the end of a fishing line and cast it into the ocean off the Frederiksted Pier. Then, I would hand the reel to the woman I wanted to be my wife. Yes, the clerk agreed, sea critters might mistake that little ring for something else and run off with it. Papers were signed and money exchanged, and I walked out with the ring in my pocket.
I could not plan the same proposal today. Fear of injury litigation caused the V.I. Port Authority to close the pier gates to the general public. Romance on the pier is dead. More on that later.
I went out on the pier with the woman and the ring a few nights after visiting the jewelry store. There were several other folks who were trying to catch real fish. Parents and children strolled and laughed up and down the long concrete promenade, stepping over and around monofilament. Once in a while a spool came to life and slid across the concrete, paying out line while its owner sprinted to set the hook. Little terns picked up bits of discarded squid bait, and the humid air rushed down the dark hills of La Grange and over the flat waters. My heart fluttered with distant Bachata music from the bars on Queen Street.
The woman I wanted to be my wife reeled up the ring and said “yes” after taking a few seconds to figure my scheme.
Who among us doesn’t have memories of the pier? I have too many for this page. It is enough to say they include encounters with highly venomous jellyfish, foreign navy vessels, big tarpon, roller skating, family picnics, turtles, and tremendous storm waves.
Of course, no Sunday in Frederiksted was complete without reckless dives off the pier. I wish I knew the name of the young man I once saw take flight over the hip wall and somehow clear the pier edge.
At some point in the past year or two, the V.I. Port Authority decided that such unauthorized human activity on the pier is a liability, especially when the humans haven’t disembarked from a cruise ship. The answer, figured VIPA, is to close the pier off to the fishermen, the children, the fools and the romantics. That is, “all ah we.”
We lose a lot when we let fear of liabilities dictate where we can and can’t go in public spaces. I would like to see the pier reopened, and it’s fair trade for users like me to be held accountable for our own missteps, miscalculations, and misadventures. Alas, this fair trade will probably not happen without a nudge from the Legislature.
Some states, such as Minnesota, have laws that absolve property owners from liability when the owner allows free passage for recreational purposes, such as the snowmobile and ski trails found in that state. Such laws recognize that imposing a duty to make spaces safe is impractical and unreasonable for owners who open up their properties to the general public free of charge.
If VIPA lacks the will to reopen the pier, the Legislature should craft a law to restore public use, similar to the statute in Minnesota. I modified the language of the Minnesota statute to give the Virgin Islands Legislature a head start:
VIPA and the Government of the Virgin Islands shall keep the Pier open to all Persons for recreational purposes without charge, but to such Persons, VIPA and The Government of the Virgin Islands:
(1) owe no duty of care to render or maintain the facility safe for entry or use by persons for recreational purpose;
(2) owe no duty to warn those persons of any dangerous condition, whether patent or latent; and
(3) owe no duty of care toward those persons except to refrain from willfully taking action to cause injury.
If such a law is passed, VIPA executives will be able to sleep at night free of worry, and we can have the pier back. It will be up to us to watch out for our own safety, so that we may continue making memories on this special public asset.
— Ryan Stutzman is an attorney on St. Croix.Since 1999 the Virgin Islands Source – the only online newspaper of general circulation in the U.S. Virgin Islands – has been providing the community with reliable, accurate and balanced local journalism.
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