Former Ky. Gov. John Y. Brown, Jr. remembered as body lies in state at Capitol

Former governor John Y. Brown, Jr. was honored in services at the Capitol beginning on Tuesday.

The politician and notable businessman, who along with his 1979-1983 term as governor is credited with turning Kentucky Fried Chicken into the multi-national brand it’s become, lay in state throughout the day. His casket was draped in a Kentucky state flag and placed underneath a towering statue of Kentuckian former President Abraham Lincoln by members of the Kentucky State Police Honor Guard.

Brown’s casket was to remain there from 10 a.m. on Tuesday up until 7 p.m. The public visitation, hosted by his family, began at 3 p.m.

Close confidants and fellow politicians have fondly remembered the former Democratic governor as a maverick who shot from the hip but nearly always hit his target.

Former Louisville mayor and lieutenant governor Jerry Abramson said that Brown, who had many places to go and people to see as governor, wasn’t always the easiest to get an audience with.

Abramson, who was Brown’s general counsel at the time, recalled that he would sometimes have to strategize to get in front of Brown. He’d often call the state trooper assigned to Brown’s detail at the governor’s mansion and plot to “coincidentally” be out and about at the same time as Brown.

“I would just so happen to walk out of my office and see him and ask him as we went down the hallway for answers, and he was more than happy to make decisions... Because he had been shooting from the hip most of his life and been tremendously successful, he felt very comfortable in making decisions. And, you know, 99% of the time his judgment was spot on.”

Abramson added that, while Brown eventually opted against it, he was being floated as a potential candidate for president among Democratic party leadership because of his prodigious fundraising ability and success in business and politics. On weekends, experts in multiple subjects not necessarily relevant to governing Kentucky would show up to Frankfort to sit with Brown and educate him, Abramson said.

Former Democratic State Auditor Bob Babbage likened Brown and former wife Phyllis George, a pioneering sportscaster and former Miss America, as Kentucky’s version of legendary Camelot rulers King Arthur and Guinevere, combined with the Kennedy family.

At the visitation, members of both dominant political parties paid their respects to Brown. There’s something for politicians of all stripes to take from Brown’s tenure as governor, Secretary of State Michael Adams said.

“Thinking about 1979, we had a lot of division, we had violence, we had bad economy. Here comes John Y. Brown with a big smile and optimism. That was just infectious. It really was a brilliant thing, because even in a time when people are angry, and polarized, they still want to believe and they still want someone optimistic. He provided that for the state,” Adams said.

One former and one current Democratic member of the House; Democratic Caucus Chair Derrick Graham, D-Frankfort, and current Beshear advisor and former candidate for governor Rocky Adkins; noted that Brown was pivotal in allocating more power to the legislature than previous governors.

“He was really the first governor that gave some independence to the legislature,” Adkins said. “He gave up the reins of controlling everything that happened on the third floor (where the House and Senate are located).”

Adkins added that Brown offered both encouragement and advice to him in recent years, particularly during his 2019 bid for governor.

Friends in attendance commented, much like Brown’s family has, that one of the most astounding things about him politically and personally was his radiant positivity. Jim Host, a former Republican cabinet official and prominent businessman, said that Brown “never had a bad day mentally.”

And even among people like Host, with whom he disagreed vociferously on politics, Brown entertained energetic yet civil conversation.

“We had great debates about politics, and we agreed to discuss it without being really disagreeable. He talked to me about (former president Donald) Trump and I’ve talked to him about some people in his party. Neither one of us tried to win. We would do it and laugh – that’s the way you used to do it in politics.”

Brown is survived by three children from his first marriage – Sissy Brown, Sandy Steier and former secretary of state John Y. Brown III – two children from his second marriage in Pamela Brown and Lincoln Brown of Lexington, as well as 12 grandchildren.