Constance Brown

Constance (“Connie”) Wright Brown passed peacefully on September 21, 2024 at the age of 93. Connie was a wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, community leader and entrepreneurial volunteer. Connie was born on July 30, 1931 in Poland, Ohio. She graduated from Shaker Heights High School and Bradford Junior College. After graduating college, she lived in New York City and worked for Time, Inc., a fact she was quick to share. In 1952, she married James Walter Brown, Jr., her high school sweetheart, and embarked on an adventurous life that included a stint as a Navy wife and moving her family 14 times to support Jim’s career. Their journey took them to Massachusetts, Delaware, Rhode Island, Florida, Texas, California, New Jersey and Georgia with multiple stops in Ohio, including Lima, Piqua and finally back to Cleveland which she considered home.

Connie was fiercely devoted to her six children, five in-laws, sixteen grandchildren, and 11 great grandchildren. She organized and ran the household, attended an infinite number of sporting and school events, and welcomed and fed countless of her children’s friends. The devotion to family was keenly evident at the family lake house in Findley Lake, NY where for years she would cart groceries and laundry back and forth each week and routinely fed groups of 15+. Connie also learned in her late 30s to water and snow ski, activities she more endured than enjoyed.

Denied the opportunity to attend a four-year college, Connie was a perpetual student. She organized and hosted Living Room Learning courses, read voraciously and attended classes at Ursuline College. For many years, she spent as many weeks as she could at Chautauqua Institution to attend their lectures and the arts. Additionally, Connie was deeply committed to ensuring her children had access to the college of their choice. She was particularly proud that, in addition to their four college degrees, her daughters earned advanced degrees in social work, divinity, law and a PhD in Victorian Literature.

As a community leader and entrepreneurial volunteer, Connie served on multiple boards, including Cystic Fibrosis of Northern Ohio, National Board of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Malvern PTA, Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital, Cotillion Society of Cleveland and the Piqua Chapter of the Salvation Army. In the mid-1980’s, Connie conceived of and organized the Cystic Fibrosis Sports Challenge, a fundraiser replicated across the nation. In Piqua, she created and implemented “Art in Schools”, which brought masterwork paintings into elementary school classrooms to introduce and nurture a love of the arts.

Connie had many great attributes – grit, a lively sense of humor, social grace, organizational skills - but one that her family particularly admired was her ability to nurture life-long friendships and make people feel special. From knowing every employee at Guinta’s Grocery by name to acknowledging so many birthdays and anniversaries that the card inventory she kept at home bested a Hallmark store, Connie went out of her way to make people feel seen and loved.

Her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren are grateful for her abiding love and support. We have deep family bonds because she nurtured and encouraged us to celebrate each other and make the effort to be together. We suspect she might also have encouraged the gatherings because she always loved a good party.

Connie is survived by her children and in-laws: Judith and Rick Bryan, Ginger and Stuart Van Wagenen, Kate Brown and Michael Halberstam, Peggy Crosby, Jannie and Jim Brown III and Kristen and Joe Brown; her grandchildren and their spouses: KC and Justin White, Ginny Bryan, Jessica Van Wagenen and Ted Tywang, Lauren and John Harlow, Tali Cornblath and Paul Van Wagenen, Max Halberstam, Anna Brown Halberstam, Kenzie and J.D. Verniero, Sasha and Will Verniero, Julie and James Brown IV, Daisy Brown and Josh Brosnan, Liv Brown, Katherine and Will Kelly, Elizabeth Brown, Jack Brown and Joe Brown; and her great grandchildren: Mac White, Maggie O’Rielly, Adelaide O’Rielly, Frankie Tywang, Ramona Tywang, Reid Harlow, Chase Harlow, Ivy Verniero, Berke Verniero, Noa Van Wagenen and Shai Van Wagenen.

She is predeceased by her husband of nearly 65 years, Jim Brown, brother, Alan Wright, and parents, Virginia and Wilson Wright.

In lieu of flowers, the family would welcome donations to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 4550 Montgomery Ave., Suite 1100 N, Bethesda, MD 20814 or online at:  www.cff.org 

A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2024 at 2 pm at Fairmount Presbyterian Church, 2757 Fairmount Boulevard, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118.