Philip Brown said he’s had no worse feeling than emptying out someone’s room. 

Philip had to do exactly that Thursday: collecting his son’s belongings after the death.

Jonathan Brown was pronounced brain dead at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, according to the updates on his family’s blog. Jonathan died as a result of injuries sustained while being struck by a vehicle following the ISU football game Oct. 2.

His family gathered to remember times with Jonathan and share the stories only they could tell best.

Born in Missouri on Sept. 3, 1989, Jonathan’s relationship with Christ was among one of his most important features.

“He was very bold in his faith, he would help guide his friends that asked for it,” Philip said. “He would never shove the bible at them, just help.”

His bible, which his mother Brenda Brown now possesses, has a metal cover that encloses his markings and favored verses.

On the front is the imprint of the top of a soda can and it reads, “Thirsty?”

On the back is a quote that asks, “Thirsty for something real?” which is how Jonathan’s father said you could describe him.

“He was inquisitive. He would not only talk the talk, but he would walk the walk,” Philip said. “He wanted everyone to think about the future, because he knew tomorrow was never promised.”

Jonathan grew up with four siblings. He had his sister, Lisa Langgin, the oldest by 15 years; followed by a brother, Matthew Brown; and a sister, Hannah Abbott. Because of the age difference between his siblings, Jonathan was always mature. He enjoyed being around them, along with his four nephews and niece.

“It was never weird having a brother that was so much younger than me,” said Langgin. “We are a very close-knit family.” 

Growing up, Jonathan was known to always have a smile on his face, but also had a very short temper. He did grow out of that temper; a friend at Iowa State helped him manage it.

“His friend on campus would call him the Irish Hand Grenade, and every time Jonathan was feeling irritable they would joke about pulling the pin on the grenade,” Matthew said. “It would just make him laugh.”

Matthew works for the Rockwell Collins, in Cedar Rapids, where Jonathan interned last summer. 

“I got to spend a lot of time with him there, we got to talk a lot and I got to know him in the work force,” Matthew said. “He was very diligent and good at figuring out things on his own.”

Jonathan was a good fit for the company. He was assigned a project to create a minibox, which Matthew said was a part that connects two pieces together, and Jonathan completed it.

Rockwell Collins was very impressed with his work and his mother mentioned that they planned on asking him back next summer. 

Since elementary school, Jonathan excelled in academics. While viewing his report cards you would see nothing but A’s, plus signs and the occasional B mark.

His specialties were math and science which could explain his love for engineering.

In high school friends could catch him studying rather than going to a party on the weekends. He carried those habits over to Iowa State and got involved with Salt as well. 

“He never drank, never smoked and that was something we were certain of — he never had any interest in it,” Philip said. 

Although studying and being active with Christ were highly important to Jonathan, he enjoyed sports as well. 

“He never played them, but he watched them,” Philip said.

He did enjoy playing disc golf, and he was also on the intramural basketball team. His favorite professional teams to watch were the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Chiefs. Being born in Missouri and having many of his relatives reside there is how his love for those teams began.

Jonathan’s love for his friends was just as strong. Rather than using extra CyCash on himself, Jonathan was known to take all his friends out and spend it on something together.

“He’d grab his buddies and say, ‘Hey let’s go buy a pizza,’ or let a friend that needed the extra cash use it.” Matthew said and a friend of Jonathan’s had mentioned the notable characteristic to him at the celebration service. 

But it wasn’t the only sign he was a giver.

Jonathan made the decision when he was 16 to be an organ donor. Doctors told the Brown family that he has the potential to save five lives. His heart, pancreas, liver and both kidneys went to two kids, two adults and one teenager.

“Through Christ is the only way we’ve been able to get through this,” Matthew said. 

“Iowa State has been extremely supportive, especially Dione Somerville, the dean of students,” Philip said. “She was with us the night of the accident and stayed until the late hours of the night at the hospital. Iowa State is very family oriented and it’s nice to know that.”

The visitation for Jonathan was held Sunday at the Pennsylvania Avenue Free Methodist Church. The Celebration Service was held Monday morning at the church. At Iowa State, Salt Company held a memorial in honor of Jonathan and the athletic department honored him at the football game versus Utah.