Dr. Jack Davis Brown (Dec. 26, 1941 – Jul. 22, 2023) died last month at Hilo Medical Center in Hilo, Hawaii.

Dr. Brown was a professor of French at the University of Mississippi, where he was acting chair of the Modern Languages Department for two years. He was also editor of Romance Monographs and a Knight in the French Order of the Academic Palms.

Outside academia, he was the owner of The Garden Center in Oxford and a member of First Presbyterian Church. In 2007, Dr. Brown retired to Pahoa, Hawaii, where he became active in the culinary arts.

He is preceded in death by his partner Steve McCombs (d. 2012). He is survived by his ex-wife, Margaret Fancher of Oxford; his son, Davis Brown of Salisbury, N.C.; his daughter Anne-Marie Davis of Charlotte, N.C., and five grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held on Thursday, Aug. 10, at 11 a.m. at the Church of the Holy Cross UCC, 440 W. Lanikuala St., Hilo, Hawaii, with a scattering of the ashes to follow.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to Neighborhood Place of Puna, neighborhoodplaceofpuna.org.