MR magazine (with help from the Dallas Morning News) is sad to report the passing of Marvin Edwin Brown, Jr. who died on November 6, 2025. Marvin was born on February 17, 1939, in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas. Hard working from a young age, he began his career in the clothing business while still in high school, working part time in the shipping basement at Jas. K Wilson, where he met a “cute gift wrapper” named Carol. This began their 70-year relationship.
Throughout college and while dating Carol, Marvin worked at Gus Roo’s in downtown Dallas. They married in 1961after graduating from Southern Methodist University where Marvin earned a BBA. He began working at Clyde Campbell Menswear, across the street from SMU, and eventually managed the store and developed trusting relationships with his customers who loved his impeccable taste. In 1971, he took a leap of faith and opened Marvin Brown, his namesake store, in Old Town Village. This began his 35-year legacy of dressing Dallas’ most influential men. He grew his business to three locations around Dallas, adding a separate women’s department in each of the stores. His wife and daughters all worked there, making it a true family business.
Marvin was a mentor to many. He loved to counsel his young part-time employees on life and was often asked to preview seasonal launches for well-known national manufacturers. From the salesmen to the tailor shop, all Marvin’s employees were considered family, and his customers became his best friends.
Marvin’s faith was the guiding force in his life. After he closed the store in 2006, he poured his time and energy into Park Cities Presbyterian Church where he was a charter member. He and Carol spent their free time in the mountains of New Mexico with their girls and families. Despite his declining memory, Marvin often reminisced about his days in the clothing business.
Says good friend Jerry Park. “Marvin was a mentor to all of those who worked for or with him. His knowledge of the men’s fashion industry brought him immense respect from the industry.
“I began working with him in 1970 as a trainee at Clyde Campbells in Dallas after graduating from college. He was a taskmaster but so kind. I developed a deep friendship with him and his family that has been important to me all my adult life. I sought his counsel because of his wealth of knowledge and integrity. Our late-night conversations over a couple of beers at the store after it closed lasted for hours or until Carol, his wife, called to get him home. I consider Marvin an icon in the men’s fashion industry and will miss him very much.”
Marvin is survived by his wife Carol, daughter Lori Brown Jones and husband Derek Jones, MD, daughter Debbie Brown Milton and husband David Milton. He was adored by his six grandchildren: Molly, Caroline and Madeline Jones, and Preston, Davis and Wells Milton.
For those so inclined, donations can be made to further the research, treatment and cure for dementia to: UTSW Medical Center, Office of Development and Alumni Relations, PO Box 910888, Dallas, TX 75391-0888. Please designate donation to the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, in memory of Marvin Brown.
May he rest in peace.