LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- John Y. Brown Jr., an entrepreneur who built Kentucky Fried Chicken into a powerhouse brand, co-owned the American Basketball Association's Kentucky Colonels and was elected Kentucky's 55th governor, has died, his family said Tuesday. He was 88. 

Brown's children confirmed their father's death in a statement that called him a "true Kentucky original who beamed with pride for his home state and its people."

The son of a longtime Kentucky state representative who also served in Congress, Brown was part of a group that bought a chain of restaurants from Harland Sanders in 1964 and became president of Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1965. 

Under Brown's watch, the business expanded nationally and internationally before it was sold in 1971. 

Brown was part of a group that included Humana co-founders David Jones and Wendell Cherry that bought the ABA's Colonels in 1969; by 1973, Brown became the team's majority owner, according to the Encyclopedia of Louisville. 

The Colonels won their lone ABA title in 1975. The following year the team folded after Brown declined to put up a $3.2 million fee to have the team join the National Basketball Association in a merger with the ABA.

Brown ran for governor in 1979, defeating former Republican Gov. Louie Nunn. 

Former Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson, who served as Brown’s general counsel from 1979 to 1981, said Brown spearheaded deals to bring UPS to Louisville, build the Kentucky Center and attract films like Stripes and Coal Miner’s Daughter to locations in Kentucky.

“He was about as charismatic as anybody I’d ever met,” said Abramson, a Democrat. “So, as a result, he gave speeches that energized folks. He had a presence about him that motivated people to act.”

U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell called him a "legendary businessman and statesman."

"Many of us first learned of Governor Brown through his business leadership," McConnell said, in a statement. "As one of the chief investors to purchase Kentucky Fried Chicken from Harland Sanders in 1964, he took one of the Commonwealth's signature businesses and made it a global household name. Later in life, he applied his private sector prowess to government, promising to run Kentucky with the same discipline and creativity that had made his various enterprises thrive."

Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, a Republican, said in a statement that Brown’s tenure as governor was “much to be admired,” including his work to reduce the state budget by more than 20 percent.

“A businessman first and a politician second, Brown ran his administration much more like a business, appointing successful businesspeople to state posts instead of political appointments,” Quarles said.

Brown, who served as governor as a Democrat from 1979 to 1983, was married to former Miss America Phyllis George from 1979-98. George died in 2020. 

His son John Y. Brown III served as Kentucky Secretary of State from 1996 to 2004.

Gov. Andy Beshear has ordered flags on Kentucky's public buildings to fly at half staff and said in a news release that Brown will lie in state in the state Capitol rotunda. 

Beshear said Brown was a "remarkable leader who was committed to serving the people of Kentucky. He made our commonwealth a better place. Britainy and I are praying for his family and loved ones.”

His daughter, CNN anchor Pamela Brown, said the family finds comfort in what he wrote on one of his final days, "I have never been so happy."

The full statement from Brown's children reads:

"Our Dad, John Y. Brown, Jr., not only dreamed the impossible dream, he lived it until the very end," the statement said. "His positive attitude and zest for life was unrivaled and allowed him to beat the odds many times over. Every day was an excited adventure for him. He was true Kentucky original who beamed with pride for his home state and its people. He had many prominent accomplishments, but most of all he loved his family with all of his heart, and we in turn loved him with all our hearts. We are heartbroken by his passing, but find comfort in what he wrote in one of his final days, 'I have never been so happy.'"

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