When MARY ELSIE BROWN was born on 2 Jun 1897, in Sikeston, Scott County, Missouri, her father, WILLIAM T BROWN (1854-1945), was 43 and her mother, MARTHA E ‘MATTIE’ (1858-1942) [unknown maiden name], was 39. She chose to go by her middle name, Elsie, and was the youngest of three daughters:

●Ethel E Brown Rose Eves 1888–1973 (#31668394)
●Irene J 'Willie' Brown Pool 1892–1972
●Mary Elsie Brown Wilson Eastman Strawn 1897–1967

Elsie was married three times. Her first marriage on 5 Apr 1915 in Stoddard County, Missouri, was to JOHN TILLMAN WILSON III, who worked as a farmer at that time. They were both 17 years old, and together they had one son:

●Delmar Eugene Wilson 1916–1972 - U.S. Army SSgt, World War II and Korea

By the time their son, Delmar, was 4 years old in Feb 1920, Elsie had divorced her husband; and that same year in Sep 1920, John Tillman Wilson III remarried for a second time. By the 1930 U.S. Census, Delmar lived in East Prairie, Mississippi County, Missouri, with Elsie’s married sister, Irene Brown Pool and husband, Louie Pool. Delmar’s father never told him that eventually he had six half-siblings (3 boys and 3 girls) from his father's second marriage. After living as an only child, Delmar found out for the first time in 1933 at the age of 18 when he went to live with his father's large family in Genesee, Genesee County, Michigan.

When Delmar's oldest son, William Eugene 'Gene' Wilson, was between 6 and 13 years old, he got to visit a few times and stay for three summers in Missouri with Elsie, who he then called his 'Grandma Eastman.' He remembers she made the best-ever pecan pie, and to this day it's still his favorite. His Grandma Eastman also helped Gene with his prayers at night. The last time he saw her was in 1966 when he was in the U.S. Marine Corps on his way to Vietnam.

In 1964 Elsie's son, Delmar, underwent unsuccessful brain surgery for an aneurysm at Santa Clara County Hospital in San Jose, California. Elsie visited him there one time in the hospital, even though Delmar could not respond. During that same visit, Delmar's younger half-brother, Vernon Wilson, told Delmar to squeeze his hand if he understood; and Delmar squeezed Vern's hand.

Mary’s second marriage on 5 Nov 1931 was to MARTIN KIMBALL EASTMAN, JR. (1898–1952). After her second husband died in 1952, she married around 1955 for a third time to GEORGE WALKER STRAWN (1890–1958).

She died at the age of 69 on 4 May 1967, in the Mount Vernon Hospital, and is buried in the Dogwood Cemetery in Dogwood, Mississippi County, Missouri.