Celebration of Life services for Edward Blackshear Brown Jr., 71, of Turnerville, will be held 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20 at Clarkesville First United Methodist Church, Clarkesville, with the Rev. Brian Butler and the Rev. Phil DeMore officiating. A visitation/reception will be held immediately following the service in the church’s fellowship hall. Mr. Brown went to be with the Lord Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017, at his residence after a short battle with cancer. Born Oct. 3, 1945, in Atlanta, Ed was the son of the late Edward B. Brown and Eugenia McDonald Brown. Ed retired from Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins in 2002, after a 34-year career as an electronics engineer and logistics manager. He graduated in 1967 from Duke University with an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering, and he earned master’s degrees from the University of Florida and Georgia College and State University. Ed loved the outdoors, especially geocaching and hiking. He was a longtime volunteer with Odyssey of the Mind (a creative problem-solving program), having served as a parent, official and coach for more than 25 years. His volunteer work included Friends of Tallulah Gorge State Park, Friends of Clarkesville Library, Regional African American Museum of Northeast Georgia and Habersham Medical Center. He was a member and served as president of the Habersham County Historical Society for many years. Ed was a member of Clarkesville First United Methodist Church. Surviving are his wife of 28 years, Kimberly Rickerson Brown of Turnerville; son and daughter-in-law, Cory and Robin Brown of Tampa, Florida; daughter, Tiffany Brown of Warner Robins; daughters and sons-in-law, Estela and Göran Sjöström of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, and Rebekah Mejorado and Shane Brooks of Woodbridge, Virginia; and son, Caden Kipps of Turnerville; sister and brother-in-law, Mary Gene Cotten and Fred Williams of Sylvania; grandchildren Marisa, Preston, Harrison, Mason, Madeline, Isabella and Freja; "honorary son" Hunter Kipps of Helen; numerous cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the building fund at Clarkesville First United Methodist Church, 1087 Washington St., Clarkesville, GA 30523, or the American Cancer Society, cancer.org/involved/donate/memorialgiving/index. McGahee-Griffin & Stewart Funeral Home (706-778-8668) and Habersham Crematory of Cornelia are in charge of arrangements.