Jeffrey Paul Brown, 77, the most enthusiastic person in the world, died on June 29 after a battle with lymphoma.

Jeff was born on October 27, 1942, in Bryn Mawr. The family moved to Arlington, Va. when he was young, then to Haverford, before settling on a farm in Thornton, just in time for Jeff to start ninth grade at West Chester High School.

The move worked out especially well for Jeff. He met Melinda Bodenhorn in homeroom in ninth grade, and they began dating. Eight years later, after graduating from high school and Lafayette College, Jeff married his high school sweetheart.

Jeff immediately got a job at Brooklyn Union Gas Company, and the couple moved to Hicksville, N.Y. Shortly after, they moved again, to East Rockaway, N.Y., where they had their first son. They then packed their bags for Staten Island before buying their first house in Englishtown, N..J, where they had their second son.

In 1971, Jeff took a job with Columbia Gas System and the family moved to Westtown. The Browns thrived in the same wonderful house on Carolyn Drive for 49 years.

In the 1970s, Jeff left the natural gas business for insurance. He worked with several firms before forming his own, General InsurCorp, in 1986. Jeff owned the successful business until 2011, when he sold the company to KMRD Partners in Warrington.

Business was important to Jeff. But his most powerful passions, outside of his family, were gardening and civic life. Jeff transformed the family’s acre in Westtown into a spectacle of beauty, a patch of land so dense with vibrant life that it seemed like some satellite of Longwood Gardens.

He brought the same level devotion to the many organizations with which he was deeply involved, including the West Chester Chamber of Commerce, where he served as chairman of the board; the Rotary Club, where he served as president; the Lafayette College Class of 1964, which he led as an alumnus; the Thorncroft Equestrian Center, where he served on the Board of Directors; and DNB Bank, where he served on the Advisory Board.

Jeff’s motto was “Go for the grins.” He lived by it, and his grins, a lifetime of them, brightened the world and helped lighten the loads of so many others. His family will never forget them. They hope the memory of those broad smiles continue to help get them through tough times, including most importantly his devastating loss.

Jeff is survived by his wife, Melinda Ann Brown; his son Douglas Jeffrey Brown and Doug’s wife Annie and children Stella and Ruby; his son Michael Edwin Brown and Mike’s children Eli and Benjamin; his sisters Bobbie Miller and Susan Delaney; and the many people across Chester County and beyond who were on the receiving end of those heartwarming grins.

Due to COVID, services will be held at a later date.

Arrangements by: DellaVecchia, Reilly, Smith & Boyd Funeral Home, Inc. 610-696-1181, www.DellaFH.com