Elsie Ruth Brown, lover of the arts
Elsie Ruth Brown, 85, was born in Haddonfield, N.J., during the Great Depression. She was one of a family of four children, two girls and twin boys. They were all straight-A students, college graduates, wives, husbands, mothers, fathers and lovers of the arts.
Elsie graduated from Ursinus College, class of 1955 with a bachelor’s degree. She obtained a job in New York City as an executive secretary for the large consulting firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton. She married her husband of 60 years in 1958, and celebrated the birth of a daughter in 1959 and a son in 1963.
An excellent writer, her career included being a rural newspaper reporter, communications director for a business college, librarian and active in several grassroots charitable efforts.
Elsie loved walking the beaches near her home in Lewes. She also loved the second home she and her husband shared near the Connecticut River in Waterford Springs, Vt. She was instrumental in supporting the start-up and growth of her daughter’s organization, the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, which protects farms and forests just across the river in New Hampshire.
During her 60 years of marriage she supported her husband’s career, guided her children’s education and paths to adulthood and careers while always finding time to help friends or others in need.
Elsie was a tall, slim, elegant blond whose smile and warm personality always eclipsed her outer beauty. She loved art, music and sports. Baseball was her favorite and the Phillies were her team. She was an above-average weekend tennis player, attended Wimbledon once, and enjoyed football, college basketball and the Olympics. She was a jazz fan, enjoyed ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s songs, and cried listening to favorite opera tenors.
She acquired a modest art collection, a few oil paintings and numerous watercolors that had a personal meaning for her. She enjoyed traveling with her husband, and got as far west as Hawaii, as far east as the Baltic countries, as far north as Fairbanks, Alaska, and as far south as Antarctica. Her longest and favorite love was books. Always an avid reader who retained knowledge easily, she read history, current affairs and fiction. She was a mother to 12 dogs during her life, and loved them all. Her favorites were a Norwegian Elkhound named Tove, a Chesapeake Bay retriever named Cassie (nicknamed Muttley.) and a rescue Labrador named Dougal.
Elsie was a self-effacing, warm and giving woman who often had firm opinions, but never tried forcing them on others. She rarely criticized anyone but occasionally a politician rankled her. For her husband she was the answer to a prayer, for her children a loving and supportive mom, and for her friends a treasure. We all thank God for sharing her with us.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Elsie’s memory may be made to the Ammonoosuc Conservation Trust, PO Box 191, Franconia, NH 03586, or online at www.act-nh-org.act.
