Thelma Harriet Brown

Thelma H. Brown, age 94, passed away on Tuesday, December 23, 2014. She is survived by her daughter, Kathleen Doehring, son, Timothy Brown, her granddaughters Erin Doehring and Breana Brown, son-in-law, Frederick Doehring, as well as many other family and friends.

Thelma was born in Chicago, Illinois, on April 3, 1920, the daughter of Axel and Bessie Nelson. Her parents, both having been born in Sweden, created a strong Swedish heritage in Thelma's life. She was active in Trinity Lutheran Church in Chicago, by teaching Sunday School and working with the youth group, where she met her future husband, Reverend Walter E. Brown, who was an intern at Trinity. After marriage, they moved to a farming community in Minnesota, where they served three churches in the Danish Lutheran Church. During their time in Minnesota, they had two children, a daughter and a son. They then moved to Globe, Arizona, to serve another Lutheran Church, and finally they moved to Seattle, where Reverend Brown took a position as Associate Pastor at Central Lutheran Church and Thelma took a position as the church secretary. After her husband's death in 1960, she moved to Mercer Island and continued to work at the church, but later took a position at the University of Washington, where she was the assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School of Public Affairs. After she retired from the University of Washington, she moved to Covenant Shores on Mercer Island, where she lived until her death. Thelma is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Kathleen and Fred Doehring, her son, Timothy, and two granddaughters. She is preceded in death by her husband, Walter Brown, and her brother, Acke Nelson.