Billy Brown’s Children Pay Tribute to ‘Alaskan Bush People’ Star in Touching Tribute Episode

Three weeks after Billy Brown‘s sudden death, the family at the center of Discovery’s Alaskan Bush People paid tribute to him in an emotional tribute episode Sunday night. Interspersed with never-before-seen footage of the Brown family patriarch, the special, titled The Legacy of Billy Brown, also saw a number of confessionals, during which Brown’s children broke their silence on their father’s death as they recalled their fondest memories of him.

Speaking during one such confessional, Brown’s oldest daughter, Snowbird, recalled how her father used to read to the family, something she said she will “miss the most” following his passing. Snowbird said Brown “would always tell stories even if it was about his childhood or things that he had written for us,” and she and her siblings would “all sit down and he’d read it page by page.” Snowbird said that even now, nearly a month after her father’s death, she can “still hear his voice reading” those stories.

“One of my favorite things to do with Dad when we’d go out and we’d hunt together, was just sitting there in a blind and waiting or stalking through the woods,” Brown’s son, Bear, recalled his father’s love of nature. “I will always remember that about my dad and I will greatly miss the times we had and the times we won’t have again. But it will always be in my heart and I will always cherish those memories.”

Noah also took a moment to reflect on his father’s connection with nature, reflecting on how Brown opted to “chase the dream that he always had” of living in sync with nature, a journey he also took his family on as they embarked on life in the Alaskan bush before setting roots down in Washington. Noah said he will always remember his father’s “dream for a sustainable future, living just how he wanted.” For Rain, the youngest of the Alaskan Bush People children, the thing she will remember most is the endearing nickname he had for her and “the way that he sounded when he called me ‘Baby Girl.’” Rain said whenever she was “worried or stressed or anything, he’d be like, ‘Don’t worry about it, Baby Girl, you got this.’”

The Sunday night tribute episode aired less than a month after Brown died on Feb. 7 after suffering a seizure. He was 68. News of his passing was first confirmed by his son, Bear, with Discovery later releasing a statement reading: “We are devastated to hear of Billy Brown’s sudden passing. He has been part of the Discovery family for years — a trailblazer, a lovely man and most definitely one of a kind. Our heart is with his family and those that knew him and loved him as they deal with this devastating loss.” Brown had been a Discovery staple since 2014, when Alaskan Bush People debuted.