Elizabeth Joan BrownHutchinson, KS

Elizabeth Joan Brown, native and longtime resident of Reno County, Kansas, passed away at the Hospice House in Hutchinson on Thursday, November 21, at 1:05 p.m., at the age of 87. Joan was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, on June 29, 1937, to Clarence Merle Cecil (deceased) and Margaret Ellen Macklin Cecil Starr (Deceased). Her siblings are Paul Frederick Cecil (deceased) of Round Rock, Texas, and Gloria Jean Starr Chadwick of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Joan attended high school at Hutchinson High School (the same high school that her mom and daughter attended), where she was involved in the Civil Air Patrol and participated on a skating team with her best friend, Bonnie. As a young girl, Joan took piano lessons until age 15. She played beautifully. Joan was a very creative person, engaging in a variety of artistic pursuits like making costumes and clothing for her children and grandchildren, crocheting doilies, and hanging wallpaper. Her parents had taught Joan how to hang wallpaper, and she passed this skill along to her daughter, Nancy. Joan constantly shared her creative gifts with others. She inherited a green thumb from her mother resulting in a very productive garden. Joan loved to preserve her fruits and vegetables and she happily taught others how. Joan loved animals and raised several dogs and cats over her lifetime. Recently, she and Charlie adopted two kittens, Mena and Echo, from the local SPCA. They were such a joy to Joan. During her life, Joan also enjoyed square-dancing with Charlie (she loved to make their outfits) and cruising the oceans. She and Charlie visited Alaska three times, Hawaii once, also Italy and the Mediterranean region.

Joan met her husband, Charlie, at age 17. On April 17, 1954, Joan married Donald Roy “Charlie” Brown in Hutchinson, Kansas, with her best friend as her bride's maid. Charlie was in the Navy and friends with Joan’s stepdad, Bill Starr. Bill had no idea that Charlie was dating his daughter and was surprised when Joan and Charlie came home to tell her parents they were getting married. Joan began her married life as a military wife. During their first three years of marriage, Charlie and Joan lived in Hutchinson and began raising three children: Nancy Lea Brown Carr Harnett, Charles Clinton Brown II, and Donald Roy Brown II. While Charlie traveled the world working in a variety of positions aboard military ships, Joan took care of the children, working a variety of jobs to help support the family, including retail work at the Ben Franklin store in Hutchinson.

In 1960, the Navy relocated the Browns to Marietta, Georgia, where Michael Edward Brown was born and sadly passed away. Subsequently, the Navy relocated the family to Virginia where they spent several years. During this time, Joan worked as a school bus driver. She was so good at it that she often taught other drivers. She participated in the annual school bus rodeo, where she would wrangle the bus through an obstacle course to show others how to navigate. While living in Virginia and during Charlie’s deployment, Joan had occasion to host other military wives for short periods. She hosted one wife from Greece and one from Italy. They shared recipes and lifestyles while in the United States and Joan became famous for her lasagna which she learned from Mrs. Natale from Italy.

In 1966, the Navy relocated Charlie to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Joan and the children lived in Hutchinson Kansas, shortly before their reassignment but in May 1966, all relocated to Guantanamo Bay for two-and-a-half years, during which time Joan performed noteworthy accounting duties for the Base Commander while Charlie worked on Crane Hill. After this tour of duty, the family returned to Virginia in 1969.

Charlie retired from the Navy in 1971, and the family relocated to Casselberry, Florida (and eventually to Lake Mary, Florida). While living in Casselberry, Joan and Charlie brought John Haynes into the family, formally adopting him later. John is one day older than his brothers, Donald and Charlie, so they grew up close.  When the family relocated to Lake Mary, Joan performed accounting duties for Charlie’s construction business, where Charlie, Charlie II, and John all worked construction. It was a family venture. She also took a position as an accountant with an insurance agency, Group Insurance Services, for almost 10 years. Joan encouraged her daughter, Nancy, to join her at the agency, which Nancy did and Nancy continues that career today. At some point in her accounting career, Joan decided she would go back to school and get a degree in nursing. She had always had a passion for helping others and she felt led to become a nurse. She attended Seminole Community College and received her first degree and then, ultimately, her RN degree. We were all so proud of her when she graduated. She loved her nursing career and worked at Central Florida Hospital (now HCA Florida Lake Monroe Hospital) in Sanford, Florida, as an Emergency Room nurse working the night shift, until she relocated back to Hutchinson, Kansas, to care for her elderly parents. Upon returning to Kansas, Joan worked at Hutchinson Hospital as an ER nurse until she retired. They lived in Hutchinson for a short time, then relocated to a 20-acre farm in Nickerson where they had chickens, a large garden, cows and other animals at different points in time. Joan cared for her parents in an apartment attached to her home until the passing of her stepfather, Bill Starr. She continued to care for her mother, Margaret, until Margaret was moved to a nursing home in Hutchinson. Joan and Charlie moved to Abbyville, Kansas, shortly after Joan’s mom moved into the nursing home.

A devout Roman Catholic, Joan was active in church. At Virginia Beach, she saw all three of her surviving children take communion and confirmation at St. James Catholic Church. Most recently, she and Charlie attended Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in South Hutchinson.

Joan is survived by: her husband of more than 70 years, Donald Roy “Charlie” Brown; daughter, Nancy Lea Brown Carr Harnett; son, John Haynes, twin sons, Donald Roy Brown II and Charles Clinton Brown II and wife Meranda; sister, Gloria Chadwick and husband Hubert; as well as a long list of grandchildren, including, Adam Carr and significant other Dawn Perkins (Florida), Nathan Carr and significant other Jessica Butler (Florida), Amy Haynes and husband Anthony Matukas (Florida), John Haynes II (Florida), Daniel Brown (Florida) Jessie Soliz and husband Ian (Illinois), Tim Maloney (Iowa); great-grandchildren, Hayden Carr, Hayley Carr, Danielle Carr, Cali Carr, Oakley Carr, Elizabeth Jolly, Hailey Jolly, Angela Jolly, Jeremy Jolly, Robert Matukas; and two great-great-grandchildren, with another on the way. She will be sincerely missed by all who knew her and loved her.

Parish Rosary will be 10 a.m., followed by Mass of Christian Burial at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, November 27, 2024, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, 612 S. Maple, South Hutchinson. Burial will follow in Fairlawn Burial Park in Hutchison.

Friends may call from 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday and Tuesday at Elliott Mortuary.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church, in care of Elliott Mortuary, 1219 N. Main, Hutchinson, KS 67501.