NORWAY – Ralph C. Brown, 81, of Stoneham died Sunday, Nov. 14, at Stephens Memorial Hospital.

He was born in Buffalo, N.Y., on Nov. 17, 1922, the son of Ralph B. and Clara S. Brown. He was educated in Buffalo public schools. He received a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s Degree from the University of Buffalo and a Ph. D. in Geography from Syracuse University.

He was chairman of the Department of Geography at Universities in New York, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Dakota. He retired in 1985 as Professor Emeritus, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks.

He faithfully served his country in the U.S. Army during World War II. He served in the European Theater, involved in 35 combat missions over enemy territory in B17’s. He was active in Veterans groups and affairs.

He was a licensed single engine land and seaplane pilot. He flew extensively, enhancing geographic observations particularly in Alaska, and the rural lower 48 states. He presented pertinent findings at National Conferences.

He married Harriett Grover on Sept. 18, 1943, and they have one daughter, Bobbie Brown Abbott and her husband, Fred T. Abbott, of Palatine, Ill.; one grandson, Fred W. Abbott and his wife, Simone, and their son, Jeremy, all of Germany; two granddaughters, Sarah Abbott Holliday and her husband, William, and their sons, Jacob and Elijah, all of Palatine, Ill., Laura Abbott Pausa and her husband, James Martinek, and their sons, Zachary, John and Samuel, all of Oak Lawn, Ill.; a brother, Jack W. Brown and his wife, Marie, of Virginia; a cousin, Dolores Opel Liberatone and her husband, Dominick, of Florida; a sister-in-law, Stella Grover Johnson, of Maryland; a brother-in-law, John D. Grover and his wife, Joan, of Albany; a brother-in-law, Lyndon A. Grover and his wife, Louise, of Waterford; cherished nieces and nephews, John and Tina Johnson, Johnette and Richard Mallick, Douglass and Barbara Johnson, Debra and Alan Tripp, Deidra and Levi Brown, William and Joyce Grover, Debra and Kosta Kobakof, Suzanne Denny, and their beloved children.