Brown, Mabel 1919-2012

BROWN, SMITH, BECK, WALLER-DIEMONT, POLLARD, MCDANIEL

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes
Date: 3/24/2014 at 08:30:19

The Poweshiek County CR
Nov. 28, 2012

MABEL BROWN, 93

Mabel Brown, 93, of Grinnell, died Nov. 22, 2012, at Grinnell Regional Medical Center.

Funeral services were held at 10.30 a.m., Monday, Nov. 26, at the Smith Funeral Home in Grinnell, with the Rev. Kathy Kluis, pastor of the Montezuma Church, officiating. Pallbearers were Jeremy, Matt, Ron, Shawn and Steve Brown, Chad Bru and Michael Dunnick. Honorary bearers were Bill Bushong and Bill Gorsuch. Burial was in Jackson Township Cemetery in Montezuma.

Memorial contributions may be directed to Grinnell Regional Hospice.

Mabel was born March 7, 1919, at the family home in Iowa City, the daughter of Frank and Frances Smith Beck. She moved with her family to Grinnell later that year where she was raised and educated. She was a 1938 graduate of Grinnell High School. While in school, she worked for attorney Harry Weeks and also part-time at the Credit Bureau in Grinnell.

On Dec. 31, 1939, she was united in marriage to William Philo Brown in Montezuma. The couple moved to Montezuma in April of 1940. While there, she was employed at Bechly & Company Abstract Office, Monte Café and for Judge Frank Bechly. From 1968 to 1982, she was employed at Miracle Recreation Company in Grinnell. She returned to Grinnell in 2007.

As a young girl, she attended the Grinnell United Methodist Church. While living in Montezuma, she attended both the Presbyterian and United Methodist Churches. She was a member of the Peacemakers Quilt Guild.

Mabel enjoyed most arts and crafts, including quilting and cross-stitching. She was an avid reader and had traveled throughout most of the U.S. and to Europe.

Survivors include six children, Bob (Valeta) Brown of Monett, Mo., Joyce Waller-Diemont of San Juan Bautista, Calif., Mike (Connie) Brown of New Sharon, Dave (Dori) Brown of Grinnell, Jim (Faye) Brown of Colfax, and Kevin Brown of Bellbrook, Ohio; 9 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband in 1975; one daughter in infancy, Janet Carol Brown; two sisters, Gertrude Pollard and Carol McDaniel; one brother, Harold Beck; and one great-grandchild.