Mabel Brown

Mabel Lucille Brown, loving wife, mother, and grandmother passed away May 22, 2015. She was born October 30, 1920 in Vancouver, Washington to Lempi and Jonas Parvi. Her family lived in Hockinson, Washington, a small Finnish community north of Vancouver.

Mabel graduated from Vancouver High School. After high school, she went to business college in Portland, Oregon and met her future husband, Millard (Mel) Brown. She went to work as a secretary in the Pentagon while he joined the Army. They married in Washington D.C. on December 25, 1942. Following WWII, they lived in Corvallis, Oregon while Mel studied engineering at Oregon State University. After his graduation, they moved to San Francisco, CA where he started his career with Chevron Oil Company. Over the years, the company sent them to El Paso, TX; Pasadena, CA; and Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia. They retired in 1983 to Vancouver, WA, but moved to Austin, TX following the birth of their first grandson.

Mabel loved to travel and was able to see many parts of the world while they were living in Saudi Arabia. She was an avid photographer and enjoyed making albums filled with all of her pictures. She enjoyed shopping and collecting treasures from all of the places she visited. She also loved to cook, sew and work on her various quilts and needlepoint projects. She was a member of Hope Presbyterian Church and was active in several groups, Bridge, Piecemakers, Retired Timers, and Disciple Bible Study.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, and siblings. She is survived by her daughter, Teri King and husband, Ray of Austin, TX; and grandsons Taylor King of Houston, TX and Brandon King of Kansas City, MO. She is also survived by many other relatives of Mabel and Mel in Washington and Oregon.

The family would like to thank the staff at the Isle at Cedar Ridge for their loving care of Mabel during the last three years of her life.

Interment will be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday, May 30, 2015 at Capital Parks Cemetery. A Memorial Service will follow at Hope Presbyterian Church at 2:00 p.m. For those wishing to do so, the family suggests that donations may be made to Hope Presbyterian Church in her memory, 11512 Olson Drive, Austin, TX 78750 (512) 258-9117 or to your favorite charity.

Please leave condolences for the Brown family at www.CookWaldenChapeloftheHills.com.