Thomas Howard Brown of Oshkosh, Wisconsin died on September 23, 2026, at ThedaCare Regional Medical Center in Neenah, Wisconsin. He was 88.
Tom was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on March 28, 1938, and lived there his entire childhood, graduating from Oshkosh High School in 1956. He attended Wisconsin State College Oshkosh (now University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) and graduated in 1960 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in English. He continued his education at Western Reserve College (now Case Western Reserve University), graduating with a Master of Social Work Degree.
Tom spent his early career as a social worker in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, where he concentrated on working with juveniles. Mid-career, he returned to Oshkosh to open Country Corner Antiques at 1606 Oregon Street, where he could enjoy his passion for buying and selling antiques and other collectibles; he always said he had the best (or perhaps second best) political campaign button collection in Wisconsin! After many successful years, he closed that business and retired. His retirement was short lived, however, and he began his third career as a bridge tender in Oshkosh, principally on the Oshkosh Avenue bridge.
Tom was all about Wisconsin sports. He was a high school basketball fan, regularly attending the State Boys Championship Tournament in Madison with a group of his friends. He cheered for University of Wisconsin sports of all kinds (including attending the Rose Bowl!), baseball (Milwaukee Braves – later Milwaukee Brewers), and football (Green Bay Packers, of course). One of the memories he often described was attending the “Ice Bowl” in 1967 with his best friend Bob Mitchell – they showed up at game time (and minus 13 degrees) and paid $2 per ticket!
Tom was preceded in death by his parents Ernest and Gladys Brown, his brother Bob Brown, and his sister Mary Laipple. Tom did not have children but will always be remembered as “fun Uncle Tom” by his surviving nieces and nephews, Marcia (Mike) Stichter, Cathy (Rick) Thurwachter, Jim (Gretchen Winter) Brown, and Tom (Trish) Laipple, and his many grand and great grand nieces and nephews.
A private interment at Lake View Memorial Park is yet to be scheduled. The family suggests that any donations in Tom’s memory go to the Oshkosh Area Humane Society, where Tom (a cat lover) was a frequent volunteer. https://www.oahs.org/donate