Catherine Ann Brown

Born at Providence Hospital in Washington, D.C. on August 27, 1961, Catherine was the eldest daughter of John Franklin Hall and Betty Lou Hall (Leapley). She was raised in Washington, D.C., and Bethesda, Maryland.

Cathy attended Bradley Elementary School, North Bethesda Junior High School, Tilden Middle School, and Woodward High School, from which she graduated in 1979. She additionally obtained an associate degree from Montgomery College in Maryland.

Cathy enjoyed a youth filled with activities in the Brownies, Girl Scouts, and Explorers; and during her time in Junior High, Cathy traveled to Scotland as part of a two-week exchange program, which greatly impressed her. She was an enthusiastic participant in school theater productions, as well as youth groups and choir in church, and even pursued mastery of the piano. Indeed, displaying an early stage competence at the young age of 3, Cathy was entered in the Woodward & Lothrop Children’s Photography Contest for toddlers, from which she emerged with a third-place ribbon and a brand-new, fire-engine red adult bicycle – which she would not be large enough to ride for another decade.

In her home life, Cathy enjoyed caring for her children and engaging in a great variety of board games with friends and family. She was an accomplished embroiderer, and a skilled tutor for children and young adults in many subjects.

Among her other occupations across the years, Cathy worked for Lane Bryant, a women’s apparel store, and later for Children’s National Medical Center, both in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s. Later, she worked alongside her husband, James L. “Jake” Brown, providing accounting expertise for B&B Air Conditioning and Heating in Maryland.

Cathy was married and raised five children in her life. She was preceded in death by her father, John Franklin Hall, her husband, James L. “Jake” Brown, and her stepdaughter, Jamie H. Brown.

Cathy is affectionately remembered by her mother, Betty L. Hall; her loving siblings, brother, John F. Hall, Jr., and his wife Malgorzata E. Babiuch-Hall, along with their son, Jan; her sister Jennifer L. Munson, and Jennifer’s husband, Jeffrey, along with their children, Tyler and Connor; her stepdaughter, Elena F. Brown and by her adoring children: her son Robert A. Walker, and daughters Jessica L. Brown and Melissa P. Brown.

Memorial services in Maryland are planned for an appropriate time. Contributions may be made to Montgomery County Animal Services & Adoption Center 7315 Muncaster Mill Road, Derwood, MD 20855, https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/animalservices/index.html or your favorite charity.