Kim Brown says her late husband Gary would think naming a street after him “a little silly.”
“He was just so humble,” Brown said in an interview this week. “He would find it a little bit comical that they would name a street after him but I also know that he would also be honored.”
On Saturday, city officials will rename Lycoming Street, where Brown grew up, Gary Brown Jr. Way.
Brown, a star running back at Williamsport Area High School and Penn State, also played eight years in the National Football League. After his playing days ended, Brown coached running backs for several NFL teams including the Cleveland Browns and Dallas Cowboys.
Williamsport City Council adopted and Mayor Derek Slaughter, a Brown cousin, signed a resolution renaming the street.
Brown died of cancer two years ago. His family has struggled through a slow process of “survival,” Kim Brown said.
“Death is a process for sure. It's a roller coaster of emotions. I think the first year as a mom and a wife, I was in survival mode, trying to make sure my kids were okay - navigating, watching their behavior, knowing that they were watching my behavior and trying to be okay, of course, grieving,” she said.
She didn’t let Brown’s death keep her from living life. It was rough but she persevered for the sake of their children, Malena, Dorianna and Tre.
“Life was rough and was tougher for a good year… They (her kids) have to see that life goes on. It's been a roller coaster but I think we're all managing well, we were always a tight family.”
Her husband always considered Lycoming Street home. He didn’t refer to himself as a running back for the New York Giants or a coach for the Cowboys. He called himself “just a kid from Lycoming Street,” Kim said.
“He was always very proud of Williamsport and he always thought of himself as this small hometown kid who was almost mesmerized by the fact that he had made it out of here… I think it's pretty special.”
Brown lost his parents to cancer as well when he and his wife were just a young couple. Their deaths made clear what death meant for their children, she said.
“They knew that that was a very real thing. Although it has been hard, life is completely different without their dad. He was just such a life force for not just our immediate family for my whole family, his whole family,” Brown said. “He was just such a presence in everyone's life, he’s so missed. But life has to go on and I think we're all doing okay.”
Her husband strived to remain like most people. His football fame didn’t change that.
“He was really very outside of the persona that everyone knew as the football player or the coach or that sports person. He was just a very normal, down to earth, fun, silly guy who wanted to be like every other dad, like every other husband, like every other friend or brother,” Brown said. “He just wanted to be Gary. He wanted to be that guy who could hang out and not constantly be looked at like THE football player or some kind of hero or icon - he just wanted to be normal.”
The family lived in Wisconsin for a year when Brown coached for the University Wisconsin Badgers. Then his health worsened. They moved back to Pennsylvania in 2022.
He died the same year.
On Saturday, Williamsport will show it remembers him.
“He was well respected and he was really good at what he did and it just showed through his players showing up,” Brown said. “When he passed away, the people who showed up at his memorial service were just amazing, and the people who still talk about him.”
Gary Brown Jr. Way’s dedication is today at 11 a.m. at Lycoming Street in Williamsport.
