Trigger Warning: This story contains mention of suicide.
The relationships within the Brown Family may be strained, but this week nearly all of the Sister Wives stars gathered together to honor the late Garrison Brown at a special memorial service put on by the Nevada National Guard.
In photos posted to the Nevada National Guard’s Facebook page on Tuesday, Garrison’s parents— Janelle and Kody Brown, as well as Robyn, Meri and Christine Brown and nearly all of their children— can be seen attending the special event in Las Vegas. Garrison— who took his own life on March 4 at his home in Flagstaff, Arizona— was a member of the Nevada National Guard’s 221st Cavalry.
In the photos, Janelle is shown receiving the burial flag after soldiers performed the flag folding ceremony. She is seated next to her son Hunter Brown. Kody and his only remaining wife, Robyn, were seated in the front row, next to Kody’s mother Genielle Brown. Also in the front row were Christine and her new husband David Woolley.
Most of Garrison’s many siblings also attended the ceremony, including Logan Brown and his wife Michelle Petty; Gabe Brown; Leon Brown and their partner Audrey Kriss; Aspyn Brown and her husband Mitch Thompson; Mykelti Brown and her husband Tony Padron; Gwendlyn Brown and her wife Beatriz Queiroz; Paedon Brown; Ysabel Brown; Savannah Brown and Truely Brown.
As a tribute to Garrison, a large number of family members wore Hawaiian shirts and ties from Bob’s Floral, the clothing line Garrison started in 2019.
The Nevada National Guard also posted a touching tribute to Garrison in the caption of the photos from the memorial service.
“Soldiers from the 1st Squadron, 221st Cavalry, along with friends and family, gathered yesterday at the Clark County Armory to honor the memory of Staff Sgt. Robert Garrison Brown, who passed away on March 4th,” the post reads. “Brown, a beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend, was born to Janelle and Kody Brown, and was the sixth child of a large family. He is survived by his family and three cats, Catthew, Patches, and Ms. Buttons.”
(As The Ashley previously reported, Garrison was a big cat-lover who had rescued a number of cats. Since Garrison’s death, several Flagstaff-area animal shelters have received thousands of dollars in donations from fans in honor of the former ‘Sister Wives’ star.)
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“Preceding him [in death] were Sheryl Lee Brown, William Winn Brown, and Curtis Taylor Brown,” the tribute continued. “Known for his adventurous spirit, Brown traveled extensively, exploring multiple countries and continents. He had a passion for comedy, amateur craftsmanship, and adventurous photography, with his night sky photography particularly moving those who viewed it.
“As a Staff Sergeant in the Army National Guard and a proud CAV Scout, Brown exemplified dedication to his country. He also had a caring nature, pursuing a career in nursing to help others. Brown’s friends and family remember him for his sense of humor and ability to connect with others. His passing has left a void in their hearts.
“His memory serves as a reminder to cherish loved ones and prioritize compassion. The entire Nevada National Guard community shares in the sorrow of losing Staff Sgt. Robert Garrison Brown.”
A family funeral was held to honor Garrison on March 9 and, since that time, several members of the Brown Family have spoken out on social media about Garrison’s death. In a post to Instagram last week, Madison Brown stressed the importance of taking care of mental health issues, and talking about them openly. She pointed to mental health struggles as the reason Garrison took his own life.
“It wasn’t bullying; it wasn’t a lack of love that Garrison had, it was mental health [issues],” Madison said. “I am going to continue talking about mental health and self-care until I am blue in the face because I don’t think it’s talked about enough, in a way that people understand it.”
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In that same video, Madison noted that she is thankful that her family was able to put their differences aside over the last few weeks and be together to honor Garrison. (As ‘Sister Wives’ fans know, members of the Brown Family have been at odds for years, and Garrison was still estranged from Kody at the time of his passing.)
“My siblings, we all disagree. We’re all very strongly opinionated people, and we have disagreements on other things,” Madison said. “But the way that we can show up for each other, and love each other, in this time, even with our differences…and the way that I’ve had friends and other family show up..”
In a Patreon video posted after Garrison’s private memorial service on March 9, Mykelti Brown stated that this was first time the entire Brown Family was all together in a long time.
“I got to see all of my family, together, for the first time in years,” she said, adding that she thinks Garrison would have been happy to see the Browns together again.
“The thing I know about Garrison is that he wouldn’t have wanted all of us to stop living life,” Mykelti said.
(Photos: (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Spc. Adrianne Lopez/Facebook; Instagram)
Such lovely tributes by the National Guard and Humane Society. This whole situation just breaks my heart every time I read about it. I’m hoping the family is able to find peace <3.
None of Robyn’s kids were there. I think that is telling. I can see maybe not having the littlest ones there, I’m not sure how old they are now. But the 3 adults who actually grew up with Garrison? They should have been there. Robyn and Kody are horrible. I hope karma bites them in the ass.
Truely was there, if she is old enough to process and understand the grief of losing a brother, Dayton, Aurora, and Brianna are old enough to say goodbye. Couldn’t just put aside the bs they are trying to start and just grow up and say goodbye to their brother.
Truely is also only a year older than Soloman. Truely is 13, and Soloman is 12. I think a 12-year-old is old enough to understand and process grief.
Robyn has tried really hard to make Kody and the world believe his kids are “tender” ages and too little to live without daddy being around all the time. But Truely is about Soloman’s age. And we don’t see Kody saying those things about Truely just Soloman and Ari.
You can see the devastation on Jenelle’s face. So very sad for her. Garrison was loved immensely.
God seeing Jenelle cry like that, just breaks my heart all over. Maybe its just because she has never really been an overly emotion person, so seeing her sobbing just breaks me.
I’m glad Hunter was there to hold her hand.
So amazing that people were able to donate 13,000 for an animal shelter. That’s amazing.
Wait, so Robyn’s kids weren’t there? Then why was she?
I mean I can’t stand Robyn, but in this instance, I give her grace. She has every right to be there, it’s her husband’s son. No matter what we think of them. If she DIDN’T attend, she’d be roasted over the coals, so we can’t blame her for being there.
As for her kids, it seems like they weren’t there. Robyn obviously is incredibly overprotective of her kids, so my guess is that she didn’t think they could handle it. It’s sad – she’s definitely preventing them from being independent mature adults – but —imo this isn’t the time to judge any of them. They’re all in a really horrible position, and have enough to deal with without thousands of online people piling on. JMO.
Idk, it just seems mad disrespectful because he made his feelings about her known. I’m not saying she shouldn’t have gone… but to show up and sit front and center between Kody and his mother without her two younger kids seems messed up considering the relationship they had. Solomon is 12 and old enough to go to a memorial honoring his brother. The older three are adults and can choose to go or not but the younger ones should have been there. Kody should have been the one sitting with his mother in the front.
The fact that, after basically abandoning his son, and being such a self-centered, entitled and egocentric piece of trash, that Cody and Robin, who alienated the children from their father, actually had the audacity to be there in the front row is disgusting to me. I’m sorry.
I never comment but this time I couldn’t help myself. Garrison’s true mothers were Janelle and Christine, Robyn shouldn’t be front and center when directly or indirectly she affected Garrison’s mental health. The fact that none of her kids went to the memorial shows that even after Garrison’s death she still playing games. Kody wasn’t a great dad at the end of Garrison’s life but he was his bio dad and they had their good moments.
Completely agree. I’m guessing that Hunter still has issues with his dad and that’s why Robyn was put there as a buffer, but Christine should have been beside Jenelle and Hunter.
Its weird to me that Kody is the least sad looking member of the family. Logan is barely keeping it together and the other mom’s and kids are upset but kody looks normal