The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Joseph Roy Brown, also known as “Patrick”, of Somerset passed away peacefully at home on December 2. He was 66.
Joseph was born in Bellas Gate, St. Catherine, Jamaica on March 23, 1958. He grew up with his grandaunt Edna McCalla and Cousin Stanley Fraser, until he immigrated with his sisters to New York City to join his mother Ruby Curate in 1971 at age thirteen. Joe attended Bellas Gate Primary School in Jamaica, then George Washington High School in the Bronx, NY, followed by the PSI Institute in Manhattan.
In 1978, Joseph began his professional career as a computer analyst at Merrill Lynch. In the mid 1980s, he worked at the World Trade Center at Prudential, switching to First Boston Credit Suisse in 1988. After working at Chubb Insurance Group until he resigned, Joe left the corporate world to open his own medical courier business, Nikki Bee’s Express, LLC in Somerset.
Joseph fell in love and married Kathy in 1988, and they bought their first home in Somerset in 1989. Their union created their daughter, and light of his life, Nicole in 1990.
Joe was a passionate sports fan, particularly enjoying horse racing. He coached Nicole’s softball teams in the early 2000s and loved practicing with her on Boulder Lane. He was a great lover of breadfruit, a cuisine of his native land. Growing up, Joe would save money in his closet where occasionally his two sisters borrowed his money both with and without his knowledge. He had a love for the stock market; often Patrick would talk about trading with his nephew Brandon and daughter Nicole. One of his ultimate goals was to build a home in Jamaica and dividing his time between there and the U.S.
Joseph also found joy in simple pleasures like trips to the Franklin Township Public Library, exercising at the gym, visiting the Amish Market, and going for walks along the Delaware & Raritan Canal. Most of all, he loved spending time and staying in touch with his family and loved ones.
Surviving are his wife of 36 years, Kathy; daughter and son-in-law, Nicole Brown Cataldo and her husband, John Cataldo of Mountainside; mother, Ruby Curate of Lithonia, Georgia; sisters, Sharon Ingram and Sharlene Curate, both of Stone Mountain, Georgia; nephews Brandon Curate and Omari Ingram; niece Imani Ingram; grandnephew Dashawn Curate, all of Georgia, and other loving family members here in the U.S. and Jamaica.
Joe, Patrick – you will be greatly missed by everyone whose lives you’ve touched throughout the years.
Visitation will be held from 4-8 p.m. December 13 at the Gleason Funeral Home, 1360 Hamilton Street, Somerset.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. December 14 at the funeral home, followed by a burial in Cedar Grove Cemetery.
Stay ‘In the Know,’ subscribe to the Franklin Reporter & Advocate!
No other media outlet covering Franklin Township brings you the depth of information presented by the Franklin Reporter & Advocate. Period. We are the only truly independent media serving the Eight Villages.
But we can only do that with your support. Please consider a yearly subscription to our online news site; at $37 a year, it’s one of the best investments you can make for yourself.
To subscribe, please click here.
