MaeDe Esperanza Myers Brown, the widow of longtime South Carolina civil rights leader J. Arthur Brown, died peacefully in her sleep at home of her eldest daughter MaeDe Joenelle Gordon, and son-in-law Charles Gordon on Sunday, July 8, 2012, after a brief illness.
Born on July 9, 1918 in Austin, Texas, where her father was a college mathematics professor, she was the first of five daughters born to Joseph Gresby Myers and Mable Culler Myers, who with one sister, Doris Myers Dean preceded her in death.
Mrs. Brown attended Claflin University and Felton School in Orangeburg, South Carolina for her elementary school training and graduated valedictorian of the 1935 class from Robert Smalls High School in Beaufort. She graduated from South Carolina State College (now University) as a Business Administration major in 1939, where she was initiated into Alpha Xi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and where she met her future husband of forty-eight years, J. Arthur Brown of Charleston. The couple married on her birthday in 1940, and the young wife began a lifetime of commitment to racial, health, social and educational uplift and justice for people of color and all disadvantaged groups plagued by the ravages of segregation and rampant discrimination.
She advocated through the activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club, McClennan-Banks Hospital (aka Cannon Street Hospital), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), The Links, Incorporated, Charleston County Democratic Women's Club, (Vice-President) Jack and Jill of America, (charter member, Charleston chapter) among others. She was a charter member of the Charleston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and as an early president, mobilized aid for the Pinehaven Tuberculosis Sanatorium and other health facilities. She was an active member of the Three Fours Bridge Club. She remained a member and supporter of St. Mark's Episcopal Church until her passing, having served actively with the Vestry (Junior Warden), Episcopal Church Women, and St. Catherine's Altar Guild.
She is survived by daughters, MaeDe Joenelle (Charles) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Minerva T. King, of Charleston, SC, and Dr. Millicent E. Brown, of Orangeburg, SC; son, Myles Gregory (Tamieka) Brown, of Charleston, SC; siblings, Barbara M. Freeman, of Michelville, MD, Wilhelmina M. Kershaw, of Columbia, SC, and Dr. Alba M. Lewis, of Orangeburg, SC; granddaughters, Theresa Malaika (Norman) Johnson, of Lithonia, GA, Maya and Samaria Brown, of Charleston, SC; grandsons, The Honorable Joseph Craig Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Ngano (Natasha) King, of Bear, DE, Gary (Alfredia) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, and Akil Lipscomb, of Greensboro, NC; a great granddaughter; four great grandsons and many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held, July 14, 2012, at 11:00am at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Charleston, with inurnment following at Humane and Friendly Cemetery.
Born on July 9, 1918 in Austin, Texas, where her father was a college mathematics professor, she was the first of five daughters born to Joseph Gresby Myers and Mable Culler Myers, who with one sister, Doris Myers Dean preceded her in death.
Mrs. Brown attended Claflin University and Felton School in Orangeburg, South Carolina for her elementary school training and graduated valedictorian of the 1935 class from Robert Smalls High School in Beaufort. She graduated from South Carolina State College (now University) as a Business Administration major in 1939, where she was initiated into Alpha Xi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and where she met her future husband of forty-eight years, J. Arthur Brown of Charleston. The couple married on her birthday in 1940, and the young wife began a lifetime of commitment to racial, health, social and educational uplift and justice for people of color and all disadvantaged groups plagued by the ravages of segregation and rampant discrimination.
She advocated through the activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club, McClennan-Banks Hospital (aka Cannon Street Hospital), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), The Links, Incorporated, Charleston County Democratic Women's Club, (Vice-President) Jack and Jill of America, (charter member, Charleston chapter) among others. She was a charter member of the Charleston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and as an early president, mobilized aid for the Pinehaven Tuberculosis Sanatorium and other health facilities. She was an active member of the Three Fours Bridge Club. She remained a member and supporter of St. Mark's Episcopal Church until her passing, having served actively with the Vestry (Junior Warden), Episcopal Church Women, and St. Catherine's Altar Guild.
She is survived by daughters, MaeDe Joenelle (Charles) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Minerva T. King, of Charleston, SC, and Dr. Millicent E. Brown, of Orangeburg, SC; son, Myles Gregory (Tamieka) Brown, of Charleston, SC; siblings, Barbara M. Freeman, of Michelville, MD, Wilhelmina M. Kershaw, of Columbia, SC, and Dr. Alba M. Lewis, of Orangeburg, SC; granddaughters, Theresa Malaika (Norman) Johnson, of Lithonia, GA, Maya and Samaria Brown, of Charleston, SC; grandsons, The Honorable Joseph Craig Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Ngano (Natasha) King, of Bear, DE, Gary (Alfredia) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, and Akil Lipscomb, of Greensboro, NC; a great granddaughter; four great grandsons and many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held, July 14, 2012, at 11:00am at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Charleston, with inurnment following at Humane and Friendly Cemetery.
MaeDe Esperanza Myers Brown, the widow of longtime South Carolina civil rights leader J. Arthur Brown, died peacefully in her sleep at home of her eldest daughter MaeDe Joenelle Gordon, and son-in-law Charles Gordon on Sunday, July 8, 2012, after a brief illness.
Born on July 9, 1918 in Austin, Texas, where her father was a college mathematics professor, she was the first of five daughters born to Joseph Gresby Myers and Mable Culler Myers, who with one sister, Doris Myers Dean preceded her in death.
Mrs. Brown attended Claflin University and Felton School in Orangeburg, South Carolina for her elementary school training and graduated valedictorian of the 1935 class from Robert Smalls High School in Beaufort. She graduated from South Carolina State College (now University) as a Business Administration major in 1939, where she was initiated into Alpha Xi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and where she met her future husband of forty-eight years, J. Arthur Brown of Charleston. The couple married on her birthday in 1940, and the young wife began a lifetime of commitment to racial, health, social and educational uplift and justice for people of color and all disadvantaged groups plagued by the ravages of segregation and rampant discrimination.
She advocated through the activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club, McClennan-Banks Hospital (aka Cannon Street Hospital), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), The Links, Incorporated, Charleston County Democratic Women's Club, (Vice-President) Jack and Jill of America, (charter member, Charleston chapter) among others. She was a charter member of the Charleston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and as an early president, mobilized aid for the Pinehaven Tuberculosis Sanatorium and other health facilities. She was an active member of the Three Fours Bridge Club. She remained a member and supporter of St. Mark's Episcopal Church until her passing, having served actively with the Vestry (Junior Warden), Episcopal Church Women, and St. Catherine's Altar Guild.
She is survived by daughters, MaeDe Joenelle (Charles) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Minerva T. King, of Charleston, SC, and Dr. Millicent E. Brown, of Orangeburg, SC; son, Myles Gregory (Tamieka) Brown, of Charleston, SC; siblings, Barbara M. Freeman, of Michelville, MD, Wilhelmina M. Kershaw, of Columbia, SC, and Dr. Alba M. Lewis, of Orangeburg, SC; granddaughters, Theresa Malaika (Norman) Johnson, of Lithonia, GA, Maya and Samaria Brown, of Charleston, SC; grandsons, The Honorable Joseph Craig Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Ngano (Natasha) King, of Bear, DE, Gary (Alfredia) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, and Akil Lipscomb, of Greensboro, NC; a great granddaughter; four great grandsons and many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held, July 14, 2012, at 11:00am at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Charleston, with inurnment following at Humane and Friendly Cemetery.
Born on July 9, 1918 in Austin, Texas, where her father was a college mathematics professor, she was the first of five daughters born to Joseph Gresby Myers and Mable Culler Myers, who with one sister, Doris Myers Dean preceded her in death.
Mrs. Brown attended Claflin University and Felton School in Orangeburg, South Carolina for her elementary school training and graduated valedictorian of the 1935 class from Robert Smalls High School in Beaufort. She graduated from South Carolina State College (now University) as a Business Administration major in 1939, where she was initiated into Alpha Xi Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and where she met her future husband of forty-eight years, J. Arthur Brown of Charleston. The couple married on her birthday in 1940, and the young wife began a lifetime of commitment to racial, health, social and educational uplift and justice for people of color and all disadvantaged groups plagued by the ravages of segregation and rampant discrimination.
She advocated through the activities of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Phillis Wheatley Literary and Social Club, McClennan-Banks Hospital (aka Cannon Street Hospital), the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA), The Links, Incorporated, Charleston County Democratic Women's Club, (Vice-President) Jack and Jill of America, (charter member, Charleston chapter) among others. She was a charter member of the Charleston Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and as an early president, mobilized aid for the Pinehaven Tuberculosis Sanatorium and other health facilities. She was an active member of the Three Fours Bridge Club. She remained a member and supporter of St. Mark's Episcopal Church until her passing, having served actively with the Vestry (Junior Warden), Episcopal Church Women, and St. Catherine's Altar Guild.
She is survived by daughters, MaeDe Joenelle (Charles) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Minerva T. King, of Charleston, SC, and Dr. Millicent E. Brown, of Orangeburg, SC; son, Myles Gregory (Tamieka) Brown, of Charleston, SC; siblings, Barbara M. Freeman, of Michelville, MD, Wilhelmina M. Kershaw, of Columbia, SC, and Dr. Alba M. Lewis, of Orangeburg, SC; granddaughters, Theresa Malaika (Norman) Johnson, of Lithonia, GA, Maya and Samaria Brown, of Charleston, SC; grandsons, The Honorable Joseph Craig Gordon, of Savannah, GA, Ngano (Natasha) King, of Bear, DE, Gary (Alfredia) Gordon, of Savannah, GA, and Akil Lipscomb, of Greensboro, NC; a great granddaughter; four great grandsons and many loving nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.
Memorial services will be held, July 14, 2012, at 11:00am at St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Charleston, with inurnment following at Humane and Friendly Cemetery.
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