September 27, 1963 – December 6, 2019

A memorial service for Joe Brown, 56, of Bryan is set for 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 14 at Callaway-Jones Funeral Home. 

After battling cancer for nearly 10 months, he peacefully passed on to eternity Friday while under the comforting watch of caregivers with Hospice Brazos Valley.

Joe was born in Houston, grew up in Iola and Bedias, and graduated from Madisonville High School where he played basketball. He attended Southwest Texas State University where he majored in journalism.  

He felt fortunate to have had several different careers, including journalism, public relations, marketing and media relations. He excelled at each but never boasted about his accomplishments.

KMVL-FM radio station in Madisonville was where Joe started out, eventually earning a reporting position at KBTX-TV in Bryan. He left after just over a year to serve as the public information officer for the City of Bryan. He served as spokesman for all city departments for a decade, developing communication strategies and working daily with the media and public. When a highly publicized capital murder trial was moved from Jasper to Bryan, Joe quickly became instrumental in developing media protocol for the scores of journalists from across the country who descended upon the courthouse for more than a month.

He took a year-long break from public service, joining Fogarty Klein Monroe, a Houston advertising and public relations firm. In 2001, Joe returned to KBTX in the anchor chair where he delivered more than 4,000 newscasts over 10 years. His passion for reporting remained, allowing him to often get out of the office and tell stories about his community. His relentless reporting and skilled writing led to many awards. 

Among the journalism accolades Joe earned include Best Newscast and Best Feature Writing from the Texas Associated Press Broadcasters, as well as Favorite TV Personality from The Eagle’s “Reader’s Choice Awards.”

He’d tell anyone that the true reward and benefit from working at KBTX was meeting his future bride, Lisa Cangelosi, who worked in advertising. Describing each other as soulmates, the two married in October 2008. They treasured a rare and powerful friendship, while being completely devoted to each other; together these attributes navigated them through tough circumstances and anchored them during happy times, of which there were many.

Joe’s tenure at KBTX was his last in the interview chair, as he switched sides and became the source being interviewed when hired as the public relations and marketing director for the College Station Medical Center. He went on to serve as public relations manager for Methodist Health System in Dallas.

Throughout his career, Joe mentored young journalists, many of whom credit him for their advancement in the competitive business. 

Joe truly loved his Lord, his parents, older brother and younger sister. He did not have any children of his own, but he adored and appreciated his many nieces and nephews. 

He had a welcoming smile, big heart and inviting spirit. He was bright, funny and charming. He was considerate, compassionate. Strangers and close friends could talk to him easily and he used this Spiritual Gift as a witnessing tool to share God’s plan of salvation at every opportunity.

Often, you heard Joe before you saw him: He’d be laughing at his own or someone else’s humor. He loved deeply, including classic rock groups that — to those who knew him — became synonymous with Joe: Van Halen, Aerosmith, The Cars. He was equally enthusiastic about the Baltimore Orioles, Minnesota Vikings and WrestleMania. 

Among the community service groups Joe was involved with or served as a board member include the College Station ISD Education Foundation, City of College Station Medical Corridor Committee, Boys and Girls Club of the Brazos Valley and the Bryan-College Station Junior League advisory council. 

Joe showed us that no matter how difficult life can be, God can use our circumstances to minister to others; and that we should embrace every moment because we never know how or when it will end. 

He was preceded in death by his mother, Cindia Brown of Bedias and father-in-law, Patrick Cangelosi of Prosper. 

Survivors include his wife, Lisa Cangelosi Brown of Bryan; father, Jerald Brown of Bedias; brother and sister-in law, Bobby and Lisa Brown of Bedias; sister and brother-in-law, Natalie and Brandon Standley of Iola; mothers-in-law Carol Cangelosi of Brenham and Sue Franz of McKinney, brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Chris and Rachel Cangelosi of Brenham, and John and Hailey Cangelosi of McKinney, and a multitude of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews, cousins and other relatives. 

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hospice Brazos Valley, 502 W. 26^th St., Bryan, 77803.