Rev. Ernest Lee Brown

Rev. Ernest Lee Brown, 69, of Amarillo, formerly of Happy, passed away on Friday, August 7, 2026. Services will be at 1:00 P.M. on Monday, August 10, 2026, at Freedom Fellowship Church in Canyon with Darren Dye, pastor, officiating. Burial will follow in Happy Cemetery. The family will receive friends from 3:00 to 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, August 9, 2026, at Brooks Chapel in Canyon.

Ernest was born on August 18, 1956, in Kermit, Texas to Franklin Dee and Jo Anne (Moody) Brown. He graduated from Jal High School in Jal, NM in 1974 and received his Bachelor of Christian Education from Nelson University, formerly Southwest Assemblies of God University in Waxahachie, in 1979. He married Karen Mosher in Waxahachie on his birthday in 1978, and they had 48 wonderful years together before his passing.

After becoming an ordained Assembly of God minister, Ernest pastored multiple small churches in West Texas for the next fifteen years and received the Ecclesiastical Endorsement from the Assemblies of God, a formal recognition that a minister has the necessary qualifications to serve as a missionary. He then became a chaplain for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, retiring after twenty years there.

Ernest loved people and had a passion for serving. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and was lovingly referred to by his family as their modern-day MacGyver, able to solve or fix anything. He was an avid ‘thrifter’ and had a unique ability to find exactly what his family wanted. His greatest treasure in life was his family, and he cherished taking care of his children and especially his grandchildren who adored their ‘Poppy.’

Ernest is preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his wife, Karen Brown of the home; son, Matthew Brown and wife, Bianca of Lakehills, TX and their children, Alisha Garza and husband, Ryan, and Cadence and Kastan Brown; daughter, Dee Anne Maxwell and husband, Sean of Canyon and their children, Abigail, Kadie, Emma, Caleb, and Joshua Maxwell; son, Drew Brown and wife, Sheyanne of Canyon and their children, Justice, Ethan, and Samuel Brown; brother, Kenneth Brown and wife, Vicki of Odessa; sister, Peggy Buck and husband, Jim of Saginaw, TX; and multiple nieces and nephews.

The family suggests memorials be to Freedom House of Canyon, 45 Hunsley Road, Canyon, TX 79015.