Deborah Browne

Deborah Hatfield Browne passed away August 13, 2026, peacefully at home in Brooklyn, NY. She is survived by her daughters; Erica Waithera Browne Grivas of Seattle, Washington; Dorothy Marion Browne and Jennifer Robin Browne of Brooklyn, NY; her son-in-law, Christopher Charles Grivas of Seattle, Washington; and her grandchildren, Benjamin Lawrence Grivas of New York, New York, Nathaniel Charles Grivas of Los Angeles, California, and Katherine Deborah Browne of Brooklyn, NY. She was the widow of Lawrence Chase Browne and the daughter of Marion “Polly” Barnes Hatfield and William“Bill” Augustus Hatfield, and the sister of William Augustus Hatfield and Charles Wesley Hatfield, all who pre-deceased her.

She was born in Chester, NY, on November 8, 1938, and grew up in Harrison, NY. Her parents, Polly and Bill, met in Egypt on a world cruise and took the family on many international adventures. Debbie became an ardent traveler as an adult. Bill was a maritime lawyer by trade, but his true love was photography. It was not long before Debbie applied her mother’s love of dance into her own pursuit of competitive Figure Skating, getting her start on the local ice pond. She loved performing figure patterns and partnering with her brother Chuck in pairs competitions. She was proud to have passed the 7th test in figure skating and to have competed in the Eastern Junior Statewide competition along with luminaries such as Carol Heiss Jenkins. She later trained with Dick Button at Lake Placid, NY.

The Hatfields bought a summer cottage on Long Island in Belle Terre, NY, in 1945, and she spent every summer there. Debbie worked with famed horse trainer Harry Delair with her beloved horse, Chunky. Other pastimes included tap dance, ballet, and sailing with her father and eldest brother, Bill. Young Debbie was an active member of the Girl Scouts, and her mother was the troop leader, putting on dance pageants. She loved the Port Jefferson library and spent countless hours exploring and reading at the Good Times Book Store. Among her childhood friends were Debbie, Melinda, and Zeb Taintor, Shelia Knapp, Nancy Orth, and Nancy McAllister.

She attended the Knox School in St. James and graduated in 1956. There she met her lifelong friend, Judy Hunter McCann, and surely they are laughing uncontrollably together again now.

From Knox she went to her mother’s alma mater, Mount Holyoke, earning a Bachelor's in Political Science in 1960. As an undergraduate, she attended summer school at Harvard University, where she met her future husband, Lawrence Chase Browne, known to his loved ones as “Spike”.

Across their 35-year marriage, the love and joy Spike and Debbie felt for each other was clear. Debbie met Spike at a school mixer and knew she had found her soulmate right away. Spike professed his love for the first time atop the Empire State Building. When Spike asked Debbie’s father, Bill, for her hand in marriage, Bill said, “I don’t have any choice - she lights up like a Christmas tree when she sees you.” Their intelligence and curiosity about the world - and their ability to make each other laugh sustained them. She joined him playing tennis, and he laced up ice skates. He went along on trips to see tenor José Carreras – often as the only spouse. He supported her dream of going back to school, and she supported him when he co-founded a new maritime law firm, Maloof Browne and Eagan.

They married and moved to Boston, where she worked to help support him at Harvard Law School at an organization created by the activist Tom Mboya to bring hundreds of African Students to study in the US, including Barack Obama Sr, and environmentalist Wangari Maathai. While working there, Debbie met Waithera Matheka, a Kenyan high school student in the program. Waithera hit it off with Debbie and Spike, and it was not long before she became a cherished family member, living with them for ten years before she returned to Kenya to do humanitarian work. Waithera called Debbie her “American mom.”

After Spike graduated from law school, Debbie, Spike, and Waithera moved to Brooklyn, NY. While raising three daughters, Debbie earned a Master’s degree in Political Science from the New School. She worked with the Brooklyn Democratic Club, volunteering on the campaign to elect MaryAnn Krupsak Lieutenant Governor.

It was during these years that she and Spike began raising Erica, Dorothy and Jennifer. Waithera’s Daughter, Wambui, lived with them for a time. Debbie instilled in her girls a love of books, travel, the arts, and politics. She held down the fort when Spike worked long hours at the firm. She helped with lunch groups, multiplication tables, softball teams, ballet classes, and researching colleges all over the world. She followed her passions, and she supported her children following theirs. She also used the financial acumen learned from her dad to protect those dreams.

As the children became teenagers, Debbie decided to start her own business: teaching figure skating at Brooklyn’s Wollman Rink. It became the first program of its kind at the rink. Skating there one day, she noticed a need for an instructor at the rink, went into the snack bar, and inquired about starting lessons. She got the support of Commissioner Tupper Thomas, who was instrumental in resurrecting Prospect Park after a rough period in the 1970’s. Her skating program thrived for several years, helped by her daughter Dorothy, who was training as a figure skater.

When Debbie began seeking another career path, her career counselor asked about her hobbies, and she shared that she loved knitting complicated patterns. He suggested that she translate her love of patterns to study computer programming. She completed an MBA program at Baruch College in Computer Science in 1984. Although she became a whiz at Fortran and COBOL, not many companies were willing to hire a middle-aged woman at the time. Her close friend, Elaine Ciccone, recommended her for a job at HS Redirection, an alternative high school in Brooklyn, as a computer teacher and programmer. She worked there for twenty years, developing the computer education program and steering the school’s programming. Her career spanned 20 years. Former students describe her as a loving, joyful, and inspiring teacher. Her daughter Jennifer came to teach at the school after graduating college, and they taught together for 11 years. At one point, at a rally seeking better wages for teachers at Manhattan’s City Hall, they stormed the barricades when the police tried to block the protest. Debbie also wrote the technology portion of a proposal for a new alternative school. That school, Brownsville Academy HS, has been serving the community for over 20 years.

Their house was always filled with music, as our mom loved playing piano and singing in the choir at Old First Reformed Church. Her graduation present to herself after her MBA was a Yamaha piano. She made sure all three girls learned to play. Later, her love of opera led to her joining a fan club for the tenor, Jose Carreras, which meant travelling the world and supporting his Leukemia Foundation. She formed lasting friendships with Ruth Simonson, Alice Han, Selene Simonson, Lydia Clary, and Barbara Head.

After retiring, Debbie continued to support schools with their computer needs and tutoring students. She also became an ardent student of the Italian language and Shakespeare and travelled the world. Some of her favorite trips were Italy, Kenya, Guatemala, Quebec, Vienna, and Mexico. She and Erica went to Guatemala and learned to speak Spanish, and they shared a love of Italian. Dorothy and Jen joined her to visit Waithera on Safari in Kenya in 2006.

A loving grandmother, she was known as Gammy to Erica’s sons, Ben and Nate, to honor her grandmother, known as Gammy. She knit sweaters for all three children and sewed Sunday dresses. She took them on many adventures: hiking in the northwest, the Metropolitan Museum, ice skating, etc. Jennifer’s daughter Katie called her Baba because Katie loved it when she sang “Baba Blacksheep”. She is undoubtedly watching with pride the spectacular people all three grandchildren are becoming.

She was a three-time cancer survivor and dealt with her Alzheimer’s affliction with bravery and grace. She was formidable in her passions and fighting for her values, whether in advocating for her children, her students, or her own health.

We want to take a moment to sincerely thank all the members of what we affectionately call “team Debbie”: all the caregivers, friends and medical professionals who supported Debbie and our family on this Alzheimer’s journey, which lasted 13 years. We could not have given her the same quality of care and life without you. We will be forever grateful: Dr Emil Baccash and Gina Baccash, Keren Cujo, Moreen Richards, Jill (Cathy) Black, Negla Moore, Sheryl Reed, Shannon Rowe, Paige Hudson, Dr. Mark Nathanson, Marla Kessler and Jesse Groom, Kevin McNally, Elaine Ciccone, Carol Morey, Victoria Morey, Debbie Harvin, Bill Davenport, Patrick Hudson, Leo and Leslie Sternlicht, Laurie Harnisch and Joan Pius, and our pets Teddy, Petals, and Guga.

Whether you offered your time, a ride to a different neighborhood, music, dance lessons, lunch every week and friendship, or helped her find her way home, you always treated her with dignity as a person you loved, and helped to keep the spark of her personality alive. Her essence remained present until the last days. You all brought out her Debbie Browne signature smile and made sure she still got the jokes!

You are forever part of our family.

Visitation: Friday September 25, 5 pm- 7 pm at M.J. Smith Sons, 255 9th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Funeral: Saturday, September 26, at 2:30 pm at the Old First Reformed Church, 729 Carroll Street, Brooklyn, NY 11215.

Flowers or contributions to the Alzheimer’s Association NYC or the Josep Carreras Leukaemia Research Institute in her memory would be gratefully received.