Kody Brown took a hands-on approach to burying his son Garrison Brown on the latest episode of Sister Wives following Garrison’s death in March 2024.
“I talked to the sextant of the cemetery and he’s the one that would normally dig the graves,” Kody, 56, explained during the Sunday, May 18, episode of the TLC series. “And I just asked him permission if I could dig it. It means something to me. I don’t know why.”
Kody noted that it was “deeply emotional” for him to be able to bring Garrison’s ashes to his family’s home state of Wyoming and dig the actual grave they would go in.
“This is like an old west country cemetery. And I’m going to dig the grave,” Kody shared, adding that his brother and his brother-in-law were going to help.
As the men mapped out how to dig the grave, Kody reflected on his pilgrimage to bring Garrison to his final resting place. (Garrison died by suicide in 2024 at the age of 25.)
“I’ve never done anything like this, digging a grave. And I think this is one of the most important things I’ve ever done,” Kody told the cameras while tears built in his eyes. “It’s the last ode to my boy. … This is my duty, my job.”
Once the task was finished, an emotional Kody pulled out three chairs and sat next to the burial site and enjoyed the sunset. The next day, Kody’s family joined him for a funeral. Garrison’s mom, Janelle Brown, and her and Kody’s five other children were all in attendance.
While Kody and Janelle, 55, split in December 2022, she said the moment that she passed her son’s ashes to Kody to put in the grave they were “just parents” mourning their child.
Their extended plural family, including Kody’s other ex-wives, Meri Brown and Christine Brown, as well as his current wife, Robyn Brown, were also there for support.
Their combined 17 children were there to share final stories of Garrison before his urn — which was carved to look like a Viking ship by Aspyn Brown’s husband, Mitch Thompson — was covered up with dirt.
Prior to the burial, the officiant of the service asked everyone to take off their shoes and stand barefoot on the ground to “feel connected to the earth” and the ground that Garrison was about to be placed under.
“The theme about taking off the shoes, it’s not a Mormon thing. It’s not a fundamentalist Mormon thing,” Kody said during a confessional. “This funeral is not cookie cutter by any means. And that would be how Garrison would have it.”
The unconventional service also included the officiant — who was a relative — wearing a Hawaiian shirt as a nod to Garrison’s love of the wardrobe staple. His brothers also paid tribute to him in a very non-traditional way.
Paedon Brown, who is Christine and Kody’s son, put his dog tags on Garrison’s grave before “pouring one out” for his late brother, and spilling beer on the urn.
“I have his tags, so I gave him my tags and his tags will hang on me forever,” Paedon, 26, explained, referring to both his and Garrison’s military service. “And I made sure to hang mine on the boat so that mine will hang with him forever. I felt really, really right to give him the military aspects that I will now have forever.”
Hunter Brown, who is one of Kody and Janelle’s sons, shared a few words before adding something to the grave.
“Garrison was my playmate he was my bunkmate for all of my life. He was my arch nemesis and my best friend and beloved brother,” Hunter, 28, said with a laugh. “Garrison was my first commissioned officer, and this was my hat that I got my first salute from Garrison in.”
Kody, for his part, told the family about a dream he’d had where Garrison was sitting on his bed and “wasn’t sad” about dying.
“I said, ‘Why you gone boy?’ He said, ‘I’m not, [it] ain’t that bad here,’” Kody recalled, laughing at the fact that in the dream Garrison asked him to “stop listening to sad music.” The patriarch noted that Garrison told him he was “OK” and that was something he thought they all needed to hear.
Sister Wives airs on TLC Sundays at 10 p.m. ET.
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