Mary Elizabeth Brown's Obituary
Mary Elizabeth "Nana" Brown
On April 18, 1918 Mary Elizabeth was born to Juanita and Alvin Flournoy in Houston Texas. Mary was married to the love of her life, George Monroe Brown on Oct 24, 1935 and it lasted 61 years. George and their first son Mickey were waiting for her arrival in Heaven on January 6, 2011. Yes, that makes her 92! She was also preceded in death by her brother, Alvin Stech, Jr., sister & brother in law Eloise & Nick Palermo and brother & sister in law Rick and Ruth Stech. She leaves behind her brothers and sisters in law, Vernon & Loraine Stech of St. Paul MN, Bob & Mary Nell Stech of Palestine Texas and her brother, Ray Stech of Round Rock Texas. Mary left behind her sons and daughters in law, Pat & Kat Brown of Houston TX, James and Linda Brown of League City Texas, Kirby Brown & Sher Walker of Anchorage Alaska and Mary Brown of Spring Texas. Nana loved her grandchildren, Georgianne & James Maurer, Terry & Wayne Dickinson, SFC Mitch Brown, SPC Michael & Amanda Brown, Patches Brown (deceased), Robbin & Donna Brown, Troy & Ann Brown, Lindsay & Bob Lyles, Sheree Higby, Chris Brown, Nathan & Shauna Brown, Jason Brown and Shannon Palmer. Step grandchildren; Shelly & Mark Wood, Jimmy Hoffman and Shana & Jeremy Miller, Tommy Meehan (deceased) Angela Manley, Carrie Manley and Chris & Vickie Haich.
Great Grandchildren: Georgianne's daughter; Amanda Downum, (deceased). Terry's children; Casey & Charlie Bullock, Brooke & Matt. Mitch's children; Mickey, Micheila and Matthew. Troy's children; Lauren & Danielle. Lindsay's daughter; Kaitlin. Nathan's children; Haley, Emily & Lilly. Jason's children; Asher (deceased), Killian & Athens, and Shannon's children; Courtney, Jefferson & Austin. One great great grandson, Rowan Downum. 1918 - 2011, It's not the years 1918 or 2011 that are important today, it's the dash in between those years that I'd like to tell you a little about. Mary Brown was her mother's oldest child. Her mother, Juanita later remarried Alvin Stech and she was big sis to 5 brothers and a sister. Her brothers and sister were like her children. When her mother gave birth to her little brother Bob, Nana was there to deliver him and was given the privilege to name him. She named him Robert Louis Stech after the author Robert Louis Stevenson, as she was reading the book "Treasure Island". Her sister, Eloise was a professional baseball player during the war. Each of her brothers served in the armed forces, some of them in two branches.
Mary met George Brown at the President's Ball at the Friendship Center in Houston where she took care of small children and George trained young boys in boxing. As they danced the night away she said George told her she had the most beautiful blue eyes he had ever seen, later that night he gazed into her eyes and told her she had the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen. No, George was not color-blind, she had a blue eye and a brown eye. The rest is history - Mickey, Pat, Jimmy & Kirby!
The trials and tribulations of being the wife and mother of what constituted a family boxing team in both amateur and professional ranks helped give her the resilience to succeed in her chosen profession, nursing.
Nana was a meticulous and attentive Polio nurse at Hedgecroft Hospital, which later changed to a Mental Health Hospital where she continued to work until it closed. She was so skilled at nursing that the very next day she went to work for Harris County Mental Health and Mental Retardation at Jeff Davis Hospital where she continued the work she loved until she retired in 1980. She often spoke of how she missed being a nurse and said she was sorry her knees didn't last a little longer.
She loved the ocean since she was a child, reading book after book full of sea stories and ocean adventures. It was no surprise that nothing pleased Nana more than having family and friends to the beach house at Sea Isle on Galveston Island where she would tell new fishermen, excited about catching their first shark, "Just wait till you eat it!", and she was right, it was awesome! Nana was a great listener and we all remember how she had a real talent for getting to the heart of any issue or problem that we had. She gave kind and knowledgeable advice on almost any subject based on her life's experiences and her almost insatiable appetite for reading. It was easy to make her smile with a gift of a book, chocolate or candy. There was always room and time for chocolate and candy. All of the Brown's looked forward to the Brown Christmas party when Nana would spend days preparing and would make her famous gumbo. Nana was a beloved sister, a loyal and faithful wife, mother, Nana, nurse, friend and she was a great cook. She was a true matriarch of her family.
What’s your fondest memory of Mary?
What’s a lesson you learned from Mary?
Share a story where Mary's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Mary you’ll never forget.
How did Mary make you smile?