Born September 4, 1946, in Durant, Mississippi, Ron Brown and his family moved to Midland, PA, when Ron was about three years old. Ron's first love was football, but, due to an injury Ron sustained at age 9, Ron's doctors cautioned against his playing football. But Ron achieved success in another sport: basketball.

Ron grew up playing basketball with his friends Simmie Hill and Norm Van Lier, both of whom would go on to play in the NBA. Ron led his junior high basketball team in scoring and, in high school, Ron was a three-year letterman for Midland, scoring 993 career points for the Leopards.

Midland won 52 of its last 53 games over the 1963-64 and 1964-65 seasons. As a senior, Ron was the 6'-4" power forward on Midland's 1964-65 WPIAL/PIAA Class A basketball championship team that finished 28-0 and included Beaver County Sports Hall of Famers Simmie Hill, Norm Van Lier, and coach Hank Kuzma. That season, Midland won by an average of more than 30 points, including seven postseason games by an average of 25 points. Ron's contributions included an average of 18 points per game (second highest on the team), and he scored 29 points in the championship game in the Leopards' 90-61 blowout over Steelton-Highspire. Ron was named All-Section and All-WPIAL and was Honorable Mention Third Team All State. Ron played in the first Dapper Dan Roundball Classic.

Ron played basketball at Point Park Junior College, averaging double-digit points as a freshman and helping the team to victory in the state junior college association basketball tournament. Ron was team captain at Point Park and in 1966 was named to the Honorable Mention Team of All-Region Basketball Squad for Region XV of the National Junior College Athletic Association. After two seasons, Ron finished his college basketball career at Midwestern College in Iowa, where he led his team in scoring and averaged a double-double.

Ron participated in camp for the NBA's New York Nets and played professionally with the Asbury Park Boardwalkers from 1969 to 1972, where he again averaged a double-double.

In 2015, Ron was inducted into the Midland Sports Hall of Fame. Ron currently resides in Rockford, IL, where he retired after 20 years in the industrial business, 10 years in the sheriff's department, and many years at the Napleton Auto Group. Ron has one son, Ron Brown Jr.