Brownie the Town Dog of Daytona Beach was buried on November 2, 1954 in Riverfront Park in downtown Daytona Beach.
The grave stone and funeral expenses were paid from Brownie’s own bank account with the funds remaining after all his medical expenses were paid. The cost of the grave was around $125 ($1250 today), but the mason who made it took the remain $75 in Brownie’s account as payment.
The words “A Good Dog” echo the words that were always painted on Brownie’s dog house.
Around 75 people attended Brownie’s funeral and Mayor Jack Tamm gave his eulogy.
At one point the grave was sodded over during a renovation of Riverfront Park in the 1980s. It was forgotten about until it was rediscovered in 1994 during another renovation of the park. Since then, it’s been kept up by Brenda Gibson (who passed away in June 2017) and Eddie James and Alvin Almodovar, owners of Brownie’s Dog Boutique, the Daytona Dog Boutique inspired by Brownie.
Every 2 weeks, Eddie and Alvin organize a 1 hour Brownie grave clean up. These clean ups draw volunteers from the community to pick up trash, pull weeds, trim bushes and lay fresh mulch around Brownie’s grave.
Please follow Brownie on Facebook to be alerted to these cleanups.