- Date Of Birth: January 28, 1930
- Date Of Death: August 10, 2016
- State: Georgia
Imogene “Imo” Jones Brown, 86, passed away peacefully on August 10, 2016, at Insignia of Newnan. She was born on January 28, 1930, in Newnan, Georgia, to Muller (“Mutt”) Jones, Sr., and Ada (Hearn) Jones. She graduated from Newnan High School and attended college at the University of Georgia. She was predeceased by her parents and one brother, Muller (“Mutt”) Jones and her first husband, Durward (“Duke”) Sims, in 1982. “Imo” returned to Newnan in 1992 – a town she had always loved – and married John L. (“Johnny”) Brown, who predeceased her in 2004. She was a devoted wife, mother and community citizen. Throughout her life, she was an active volunteer. She taught swimming to special needs children, led PTA organizations and projects and provided office support for a hospice organization. She was deeply involved in her children’s extracurricular activities, serving as a den mother for Cub Scouts, and a troop leader for Brownies and Girl Scouts. She missed only a few swim meets, baseball, softball, football and volleyball games. Over 25 years, she never missed a piano recital or musical performance. “Imo” loved being on the go until her health no longer allowed it. She enjoyed playing golf and attending sporting events. She was an intrepid traveler when it came to visiting family and friends, thinking nothing of driving from Nebraska to Georgia with her children to see their grandparents, or flying throughout the country to visit her children. She was a jack-of-all-trades. She could rewire a lamp, change a tire or change a fuse. She was a marvelous hostess and life of the party – though not a particularly good cook. Despite having a brown thumb, she loved to garden. After becoming interested in genealogy, she would spend hours at the library with her good friend Darlene. She was fiercely loyal to her friends and family and made life better for so many, and will be dearly missed. She spoke about her good fortune to have had two great loves of her life, but her marriage to Johnny Brown later in life brought particular joy to her. Johnny Brown remains a legend in the greater Newnan community, having been a sports writer for 50 years for the Newnan Times Herald and having served as a Coweta County Commissioner. He also was a member of the Newnan City and Coweta County School Boards. Johnny is remembered as a champion of athletes throughout the years, always writing positively about players’ accomplishments, and for founding the Coweta Sports Hall of Fame, which established a scholarship in his name for scholar-athletes in 2004. “Imo” would often walk with Johnny on the sidelines of the football field, serving as unofficial statistician. She was an accomplished writer (and relentless grammarian), and would proofread Johnny’s articles and write captions for photos. And she loved every minute of it. Survivors include her children, Duke Sims and his wife Vicki of Roscoe, IL, and Jennifer Sims and her husband Jim Gill of San Francisco, CA,; grandchildren Ross Sims of Chicago, IL, and Kristi (Steve) Johannes of East Troy, WI; stepchildren Mary Linda Howard and husband Wesley, Jr., of Newnan, John Louis Brown and wife, Sherri, of Marietta, GA, and Barbara Kathryn Jenkins and husband Ron of Murphy, North Carolina; and step-grandchildren Wesley Howard III, Lawson Howard, Jack Howard, Kathryn Keily Jenkins, Hailey Brown and Lauren Brown. The family wishes to thank Imo’s long-term caregiver, Judy Payton; her friend and neighbor Betty Dunaway, who passed away earlier this year and the board members of the Coweta Sports Hall of Fame – particularly Joe and Elizabeth Crain, for their support and friendship; and the staff at Insignia and Serenity Hospice for her recent care.
