Shirley Anne Brown

The Beloved Shirley Anne Brown went home to her Lord and Savior on March 25, 2022.

Shirley was born an only child on March 13, 1937 in Atlanta, Georgia and lived there until her last year in high school when she moved to Arlington, Virginia with her mother. She married early and had four children by the age of 23. Later, she took two additional children into her household during the Vietnam war where she made a loving, memorable, and fun home for all six children in a small house in Kansas. In 1967, a job moved the family to San Jose, California where Shirley received her first Driver's License at the age of 33. As a way to stay close and involved with her children, she took a job as the Secretary to the School Assistant Superintendent. It was here she discovered her passion and love for education which led to her enrollment into her college and her graduation from the College of Notre Dame as the age of 39 (at one point, she even shared a college class with her eldest son). She then went on to teach the fifth grade in Diamond Springs, California until she married who would be the love of her life, Richard Brown, and they spent 20 wonderful and memorable years together until his passing in 1998.

Even though her formal teaching career came to a close, Shirley never ceased from her gift in teaching. In her later years of life, she was a treasured Bible teacher and leader, teaching up to the age of 84. She was a gifted seamstress, passionate about politics, and loved to travel and see the world. When she was 81, she traveled to Israel which was one of the highlights of her life.

Although Shirley's life was filled with great challenges, she was always graceful and thankful and put others before herself, even when battling MDS for 16 years. Her family was tremendously blessed and loved by her and she leaves behind a fierce legacy of love, service, and support.

Grateful for having shared her life are her three sons, her only daughter, their spouses, 10 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

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