Jefferson Dawson Brother, Jr. died on Monday, November 2, 2026. Jeff, as he was known, was a native of Mt. Sterling, Kentucky, where his ancestors settled on the Prewitt Pike in 1826.

He was born on February 6, 1938, to Elizabeth Chandler Prewitt Brother and Jefferson Dawson Brother, Sr. After graduating as the valedictorian of the Mt. Sterling High School class of 1956, he received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the University of Kentucky, where he was a member of Gamma Sigma Delta, Omicron Delta Kappa, and Phi Delta Theta. Upon his graduation from college, he married Jane Latta Shewmaker of Mercer County, Kentucky. He then served two years of active duty at Fort Eustis, Virginia, as a First Lieutenant in the U.S. Army.

He returned home in 1963 to farm on the Prewitt Pike, where he first developed his love of agriculture as a 12-year-old helping his uncle, Edward Rogers Prewitt, oversee the family farms. Brother was the first farmer in Montgomery County to practice no-till cultivation, and in addition to his cow-calf operation, was one of the few farmers raising sheep in the county in the 1960s and 1970s. In 2018, he was named Beef Producer of the Year by the Montgomery County Cattleman's Association. He took his profession seriously but also with humor and a deep respect for the land and history and sought to instill a love of the rural landscape in his children. 

In addition to farming, Brother served for many years as Chairman of the Board of the Exchange Bank of Kentucky, which later became a branch of Community Trust. He was a member of the Montgomery County School Board and an Elder of the First Presbyterian Church.

He is survived by his wife, Jane Latta Brother, four children: Dawson Brother (Alicia), Laura Lee Brother (Matt Foster), Elizabeth Latta Brother, and Janie-Rice Brother (Perry Papka) and seven grandchildren: Nate Brother, Maddie Brother, Jeff Foster, Philip Foster, Margaret Anne Doran, Laura Elizabeth Papka, and Prewitt Papka.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, November 28, 2026, at 1 pm at the First Presbyterian Church in Mt. Sterling, Kentucky.