Nicole Brown Simpson’s father has died at the age of 90. Louis Brown Jr. died after a lengthy Alzheimer’s disease battle. His daughter Denise Brown shared the news with People .
Brown shares that Nicole Brown Simpson’s father died in the care of his family at home in Dana Point, California. Though he had been been struggling with the Alzheimer’s for some time, things took a turn last Wednesday. Denise’s mother called and told her she needed to come home, as she was in Italy at the time. Louis Brown Jr. died just 12 hours after Denise returned home to see him on Thursday.
Denise’s mother, Juditha, and her sisters, Dominique and Tanya, had taken care of Louis around the clock in the family’s home throughout his illness. Tanya says that she feels blessed to have been able to help him, and she thinks “he hung on for so long because he knew there was so much love in the house.” Louis and Juditha had been married for 58 years.
As ABC News notes, Nicole Brown Simpson’s father became a familiar face to many after her murder in 1994. Brown Simpson, along with her friend Ron Goldman, were found brutally murdered outside her home, and her former husband O.J. Simpson stood trial for their deaths. He was acquitted on the criminal charges, but a civil jury later found him liable for the deaths. Louis and Denise created a charitable foundation in Nicole’s name to raise awareness of domestic violence. Simpson is now in prison in Nevada on an unrelated conviction.
Brown was a pilot in World War II, flying B-17 bombers, and he got married in Switzerland after he served. He is survived by Juditha, Denise, Tanya, and Dominique, as well as his children from his first marriage, Rolf, Tracy, and Wendy. Louise has a number of grandchildren as well, including Nicole’s children with Simpson, Sydney and Justin.
The family is said to have had a rather idyllic life throughout the childhood of the girls, and Louis became a successful businessman after his service. Obviously that all changed when Nicole was murdered in 1994. Denise says, “It was devastating for him.” Louis had also lost a daughter from his first marriage, Margit, in 1989.
Now that Nicole Brown Simpson’s father died, he will get a military burial, Denise says. She notes that he wouldn’t want a lot of fanfare, but he had indicated he had been proud of his service and wanted that honored for his funeral.
[Image via Veooz]