David Brown

David Vincent Brown, 83, of Rockport, Texas, passed away peacefully on Thursday, May 16, 2025. He was born October 10, 1941, to Davis and Sara (Patsy) Durdan Brown in Columbus, Georgia. When he was a boy, the family moved to Pampa in the Texas Panhandle. After he completed his K-12 schooling, David enrolled at the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned a Bachelors in Business Administration.

Throughout his life David worked at diverse and interesting jobs, ranging from being a refrigerator salesman in Dallas to starting a company that built audio speakers in Nashville. One of David’s claims to fame was installing the speakers in Jimmy Buffet’s van.

While working as a ranch manager in Sanderson, Texas, he met the love of his life, Debra Druse. She soon fell for the handsome lanky stranger, a dashing figure on his Yamaha 500 motorcycle while wearing cut-offs with rainbow suspenders.

He and Debra moved to Rockport in 1981. On November 23, 1985, they married under the live oak trees at what is now Bent Oak Rookery. While in Rockport, David worked at Cove Harbor and championed Debra’s thriving business Footwork Dance Studio.

Later, David decided to go back to school and obtain his teaching certificate from Texas A & M University Corpus Christi. That goal accomplished, he began his teaching career by working locally for the next 12 years, first at West Oso High school in Corpus Christi and then at Fulton Elementary School.

In 2004 David accepted a position with the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. His duties were to teach computer applications to children of US Military members stationed overseas. His teaching assignments led David and Debra on a ten-year adventure while living and working on bases in Sicily, Germany, Okinawa and South Korea.

From each post, the couple travelled every chance they got, visiting such places as Malta, Paris, Venice, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Bali. They returned to Rockport in 2014 when David retired.

David had a lifelong love of motorcycles, boats and building things. In the early ’80s, he embarked on the ambitious project of building a 34-foot trimaran in his shop. David was always exceptionally creative which was evident in the elaborate scenery that he built for Footwork’s annual Hot Shoe Show and in his many award-winning Halloween costumes. He was always tinkering in his wood shop and making furniture and unique gifts for his friends.

David was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Raymond. He is survived by his wife Debra, his brother Ronald and three nieces and nephews.

David will be remembered by all who knew him for his unique sense of humor, often including pranks, and his gentle loving spirit. A celebration of David’s life is planned for a later date.