BECKLEY, W.Va. — Staff members at Raleigh General Hospital remain shocked and in disbelief about the loss of a well-known volunteer at the hospital. Pastor Ron Browning, known at Raleigh General as “Pastor Ron” was murdered in his home back on Saturday.
“I got a call at home from one of my chaplains,” said hospital volunteer coordinator Debbie Peyton. “I was just in disbelief.”
Those who visited Raleigh General very likely had met Ron. He was a constant presence at the hospital and often worked the information desk and greeted people at the front door.
“He was just here all the time,” said Peyton. “He was one of the nicest men honestly that you’d ever meet and this has been horrible for all of us.”
Beckley police have arrested Camille Brown, 19, of Beckley, and charged her with Browning’s murder. She was arrested on a breaking and entering charge near Browning’s home and confessed to the killing. Police have had a difficult time determining a motive since the two didn’t know each other.
“He was there to help anybody who needed it,” Peyton said. “He never met a stranger. If he was here and we needed a chaplain to go upstairs and pray with somebody. He held a lot of hands and wiped a lot of tears.”
Peyton said Browning, 68, had a unique ability to comfort those dealing with immense grief probably because he knew their struggle. Browning lost his daughter to cancer, his son a year later, and soon afterward his first wife.
“Ron went through so much tragedy in his own life,” Peyton said. “Now, when it just seemed like he was starting to heal from that, this happened and you just don’t understand it.”
Peyton said Ron routinely delivered the newspaper to each patient’s room every morning and would enter the room singing a song and trying to brighten a day.
“He always had a smile on his face, that was just Ron,” she said. “He was there for anyone who needed him.”