Influential Nevada doctor dies

Dr. Robert L. Brown of Carson City died Friday after health problems for about six months. He was the Nevada state director of the American Medical Association in the 1970s, and served as the director of the Carson Convalescent Center.

Brown, 71, was raised on a farm in Montana. After high school, he went to college and became a music teacher. He then began his long career in medicine.

Brown studied pre-medicine at the University of Iowa for two years. He went to medical school in Grand Forks, N.D., transferring to Baylor University in Houston. He interned at Marine Hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco.

He and his wife, Doretta, moved to Nevada for his first job. He took a position at the Schurz Indian Reservation, where he was responsible for the care of American Indians in western Nevada.

After working in Ely for a brief period, Brown moved to Carson City in 1966. He was a general practitioner at the Carson Medical Group until 1988, when he closed his practice.

He then became the chief medical adviser for the state health system, doing permanent partial ratings for worker's compensation.

He retired from the state in 1994, but continued to work at the Churchill Community Hospital and the emergency rooms in Lovelock, Winnemucca and at Battle Mountain General Hospital.

Brown, 71, was a member of the First United Methodist Church, where he directed the choir. He enjoyed solo flying, golfing and bowling.

He is survived by two sisters; four brothers; daughter Alice Walker and son Loren Brown, both of Carson City; and five grandchildren.