Mary Alice Brown

Mary Alice Zrubek Brown was born to Ludmilla S. and William J. Zrubek in Taylor, Texas on October 30, 1943, and passed away peacefully on September 23, 2026, in Austin Texas. The youngest of seven siblings, she was the first one to experience the novelty of being born in a hospital. Although she never shared any memories of this watershed moment, it’s sure that her mother appreciated the nicer accommodation.

Though the youngest child, she grew up learning to tend the garden, feed chickens, help her mother in the kitchen, her dad in the barnyard, and when she was strong enough to drag a sack, hand pick cotton day after day in the Texas summer with her brothers and sisters. Though admitting that this work was exhausting and repetitive, her memories of being a farm girl were always positive— taking breaks in the shade, sipping on cold Upper10, and eating green grapes…or once a week (!) baths on Saturdays, sharing the washtub water on the back porch.

While at Bartlett Texas high school, Mary Alice excelled at academics and social clubs, helping to run the school newspaper, manage senior class activities, selected for and participated in Girl State, and was the lead twirler at football games. After graduating as the Salutatorian in 1962, Mary Alice moved to Austin (a big city of 200,000) and worked as a stenographer for TEA to earn money to attend the University of Texas. She lived with several a Zrubek cousin in Travis Heights and then moved closer to campus when finally enrolling at UT in 1963. At UT, she majored in journalism and honed her communication, editing and writing skills. While rooming at Kirby Hall Dormitory, she was the switchboard operator. She worked at the Daily Texan student newspaper for many semesters as a reporter, was the editor during the Summer of 1966, and was on campus August 1, 1966, at the Texan offices when Charles Whitman began shooting from the UT Tower. She bravely coordinated press coverage for the school’s newspaper that day and fielded calls from media around the country.

After graduating from UT in 1967, Mary Alice moved to Houston, Texas and began working as a Technical-Manual Writer for Houston Lighting and Power. During this time, she attended St. Anne’s Catholic Church and was a member of the young adult’s club. Late in 1969, on a group trip to New Orleans, she got to know John Levis (JL) Brown who had recently joined the YA club. Soon after this trip, they began dating and were married on September 5, 1970.

In 1971, their son Eric was born, and in 1972, JL accepted a job in Austin, and they moved and bought a house in the University Hills neighborhood. In July 1973, their daughter Ellen was born. Since then, Austin has always been her home. In addition to raising two children, Mary Alice was involved in many important volunteer civic organizations, but she dedicated most of her time to her children’s respective PTA’s, the UH neighborhood association, and the St. Austin’s Choir. She also continued working as an editor and doing publication layout for non-profits: St. Austin’s Church bulletin, Texas PTA, The Children's Trust Fund, and Austin Extend-A-Care to name a few. Her editing, proof-reading skills, and publication design skills were exceptional and highly sought after. Her two children were also beneficiaries of this talent. Never before had two public school kids submitted book reports or essays with zero grammatical, spelling, or punctuation errors. Plus, she was constantly correcting anything the school or federal government sent home or mailed.

After 30+ years of work, Mary Alice retired in 2002 to become a grandmother, a “job” she loved and cherished until the end…though her editing advice continued during this time whether you wanted it or not. She helped her daughter care for grandkids Graham (b. 2002) and Gabrielle (b. 2005), keeping both at her house during the work week and always being available to babysit. When her son Eric finally wised-up, she upgraded her grand-parenting license and assisted with the next installment of grandkids, Molly (b. 2013) and Madelynn (b. 2016). Though she was older and caring for JL who had dementia, Mary Alice was a daily presence in M&M’s life, offering wisdom and stories to their daily routines.

Throughout Mary Alice’s life, remaining connected to the past was very important to her. Not only did she continually share stories of her childhood and that of her parents and grandparents, but she also actively worked to maintain extended family relationships and memories. Zrubek gatherings were always being organized, both amongst the six surviving siblings and with her ten sets of aunts and uncles and 50 1st cousins. The Zrubek Family Reunion has been a biannual fixture since 1972 and her constant writing and revising the family directory is a testament to her dedication to family history and maintaining connection. Her tireless efforts to this cause will be missed.

Mary Alice is survived by son Eric Brown and wife Erika, daughter Ellen Jatinen and husband Andrew; grandson Graham Jatinen and granddaughters Gabrielle Jatinen and Molly and Madelynn Brown; sister Georgia Braun, sisters-in-law Marcia Zrubek, Linda Zrubek, Gloria Brown, and Joanne Brown; cousins, nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and -nephews. She was predeceased by her parents, brothers Bill, James, and Henry, sisters Dorothy Kluck and Beatrice (infant), brothers-in-law Wally Kluck, Leo Braun, James Brown, Robert Brown, sister-in-law Betty Clare Brack, and nephew Dan Brack.

Visitation will be on October 16th at Weed Corley Fish Funeral Home, 5416 Parkcrest Drive, Austin, Texas from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Mass will be on Saturday, October 17th at St. Austin Catholic Church at 11am, followed by a reception.

The family extends a special thank you to the staff of Parmer Woods AL, the caregivers of Hospice Austin, and the caregivers at Heavenly Care Home Health for all that they provided and helped with during this past year.

Memorials may be made to Saint Louise House (saintlouisehouse.org) or a favorite charity.