Glen “Cookie” Brown, Jr. was born on April 8, 1938, in Eminence, Missouri, as the eldest son of Glen E. Brown, Sr. and Edna Elizabeth (Chilton) Brown. He left us to meet his heavenly father and loved ones on March 17, 2026.
Cookie was raised in Eminence and graduated from high school there in 1956. Various stories surround how he obtained the nickname of Cookie, but every version involved cookies, and the name stuck. Whether he ate them off the ground or not is only known by a few people and was never included in his version of the story.
After working on the family farm while growing up, Cook left Eminence the day after he graduated high school to head to the State of Oregon to work in the timber industry. When that played out, he worked in a cannery there. Later, in an oil field in New Mexico. He never forgot those who helped him find work and gave him a spare bed and an extra meal when he was working away from home. After he returned to Shannon County, he worked in the timber with his father, Glen.
On October 4, 1958, he was united in marriage to Edith Rose Powell. They made their home in Shannon County and at times in surrounding communities. They had two children, Glenna Kathleen and Ricky Lynn. Cook and Edith then went their separate ways for a few years, but remarried one another on December 18, 1971. Reverend Raymond Sconce performed both of their marriages. They remained married until 1984.
Cook was baptized and joined the United Methodist Church in Eminence on April 27, 1974.
In the 1960s, Cook started driving a truck for Atlas, which was a furniture moving company. That would later lead to driving for Dealer’s Transit and other over-the-road driving positions. In 1974, an opportunity presented itself for him to discontinue long-haul truck driving. He and Edith started Brown Oil Company, first as a Standard Oil jobber and then as owners of the company itself.
The work at Brown Oil Company fit him perfectly. Cook loved the work and the customers. He built what is now a fifty-year-plus business, having made many friends along the way. He retired from the company in 2019, after his health declined to the point that he could no longer do the physical labor required of the job.
Cook was a hard-working person his entire life, but he also loved to pull a good prank on others and often helped those who needed a hand without saying a word to anyone else. While his health permitted, he enjoyed traveling and revisiting places he had passed on the road while truck driving. He often made sure those trips included a stop by his sister’s home in Kansas and his brother’s home in California. He also loved a good water-skiing challenge and a long dirt bike ride in the countryside.
The loss of him has left an enormous void in our lives, but he is celebrating today in a new body and mind with Jesus and his loved ones who have preceded him in death. His parents, Glen and Edna; his brother, Kenneth (Peck); his brother, Bobby; his brother-in-law, Vernon Smith, and his beloved son, Ricky Lynn. Oh, what a day that will be!
He leaves to mourn his passing his daughter, Glenna Kathleen (Kathy) Reeves and husband, Clinton B. Reeves; grandson, Cody Brown; grandson, Jared Reeves and wife, Shana; three great-grandchildren, Kinley Reeves, Jaidlyn Reeves, and his special little buddy, Clinton James Reeves. He also leaves his sister, Janet Sue; sister-in-law, Valeria Brown; and sister-in-law, Alice Brown, as well as a number of nieces and nephews, along with many friends.
