addition to running, Brown worked as a stonemason and shellfish fisherman. He married a Narragansett woman named Ethel Wilcox (April 23, 1919 - October 14, 2015) and had four children Sunny, Norman, Marlene and Ethel. He usually sold the medals and trophies he won while racing in order to support his family. Tom Derderian wrote, “The economy in these depression times provided little for most Americans and nothing for Indians. They were a conquered people living on the margin... Ellison Myers Brown, born on the margin, saw running as his only way out of poverty." Brown’s nephews remember their uncle as a great storyteller. Death and legacy Many varied accounts of the events on the evening of August 23, 1975, directly leading to Brown's death have been told. Some state that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, waiting for a ride home, or that an altercation may have been taking place. However, amidst whatever confusion and circumstances there may have been, he was killed when a van hit him outside a Westerly, Rhode Island bar. Brown's injuries proved to be fatal. There is an annual Mystic River road race named in his honor in Mystic, Connecticut every fall as part of a conference commemorating past Native American runners of the Boston Marathon and to acknowledge the history and significance of running in many Indigenous American cultures. At the 2016 Boston Marathon race, Narragansett tribal member Mikki Wosencroft ran and completed the Boston course as an acknowledged representative of Brown's family and the Narragansett tribe to honor him and his legacy. See also List of winners of the Boston Marathon Narragansett people Native Americans in the United States References Further reading External links "Running Today: Olympians: Ellison Myers 'Tarzan' Brown profile at Against the Winds: Traditions of Native American Running at Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University. 1914 births 1975 deaths 20th-century Native Americans American male long-distance runners Athletes (track and field) at the 1936 Summer Olympics Boston Marathon male winners Narragansett people Native American sportspeople Olympic track and field athletes of the United States Road incident deaths in Rhode Island