Jeanette M. Brown

Jeanette M. Brown broke free of her earthly bondage and went to heaven on January 10, 2025 at the age of 64. After battling Alzheimer's disease for several years, she is her smiling, happy, loving, joyful, and bubbly self once more. Her lifetime of serving others with care and love is what defines her, and that is what we will always remember her for.

Born on May 24, 1960 and nearly in the ENT commissary, Jeanette was the youngest child of Dale and Anna Swayne and youngest sister to her siblings Lou and Dee. The siblings’ paths diverged at an early age. At age 6, Jeanette’s older brother Lou joined the Army and was sent to Vietnam. Her sister Dee was one year older, which created a lifetime relationship of a love-hate rivalry. Jeanette was fiercely her own person, and all the family members agreed that Jeanette was quite sassy and spoke her mind perhaps a little too often. Maybe it was due to her German heritage.

From an early age, Jeanette learned how to care for and help others. Much of this came from her generous spirit and volunteer work. She was a volunteer candy striper at Penrose Hospital and a volunteer and intern during high school at the Colorado Springs School for the Deaf and Blind. She also learned how to care for others via her Aunt Ruby, who perhaps was the only person to temper Jeanette’s wild child attitude. Jeanette adored her aunt who taught her the ins and outs of baking, cooking, and generally how to be an adult. During her high school years, Jeanette got a new sister when Lou married Terry Fitzgerald in Long Beach. Jeanette graduated from Harrison High School in 1978 and took classes at UCCS the following year. At the same time, she worked at Farm Crest Dairy and at the flea market.

On April 26, 1980, Jeanette and Allyn were married at Trinity Nazarene Church. Shortly after, Allyn’s job took them to live in Denver for a couple of years. Jeanette got a job in the trust department at Colorado State Bank. She would commute by bus to downtown Denver every day. They attended Truett Baptist Church, where Allyn taught adult Sunday school and Jeanette would nurture everyone socially.

Upon their return to Colorado Springs, they attended Trinity Nazarene where they taught the high school class and Jeanette began honing her skills with holiday parties for the kids. In January 1983, Scott was born by emergency C-section which was both terrifying and joyous. The family was complete when Emily was born in February 1986. Nephew Chris was as much a part of the family as her own kids – whether he was living with us or just visiting. Jeanette gave everything she had to being a full-time mother, aunt, and wife.

After a short year of living in Pueblo, the family moved back to Colorado Springs in 1991 where Jeanette began volunteering at Martinez Elementary. At the same time, she left her Walmart job to work the front desk at the Garden Ranch YMCA. It was during this time that she had the dream to open a balloon business – something that would match her personality of joy and happiness. Her dream became reality when she opened Lofty Designs in 1995. While the retail operation moved to a homebased business, she would forever continue with her artistic designs and balloon passion at parties and school events.

In early January 1997, all of her beliefs and core values were going to be tested when Emily became paralyzed and diagnosed with cancer. Jeanette’s very existence and focus became caring for Emily 24-7 to endure 199 days out of 210 days for hospital stays and treatment at Children’s Hospital in Denver, all the while still being mother to Scott and wife to Allyn. She was the ultimate caregiver and advocate for Emily’s fight for life. On October 22, 1997, it seemed to all come crashing down when Emily was given her terminal diagnosis. Instead, it made way for God to work a miracle in all our lives and cure Emily. Thanks be to God.

Jeanette was a volunteer at Russell Middle School for years. She served as a teacher’s aide, PTA president, and ultimately received the honor of Volunteer of the Year Award in 2012. During all of her volunteering, Jeanette made numerous friends but especially a core group which last to this day. Barb, Lois, Ann and Terri were true friends that supported her and helped her maintain her own sanity through all the years. Jeanette loved to host all kinds of parties and bring fun & joy to those around her. With their help, she put on many milestone events through the years, all the while slipping in balloons whenever she could.

Children were what brought real pleasure to Jeanette’s life. She loved it when she could watch Carole’s children Ashley and Tyler. And she loved being blessed with the addition of two more daughters – Yvonne and Heather. Then came the best joy of four grandkids – Titus, Sarai, Rowan, and Ella. She loved being able to babysit and host even more parties where the little kids would get their own balloons to play with to their heart's content. These family additions also meant more frequent visits from Lou and Terry and her nephews Jonathan, Steven and Douglas. She always cherished their visits.

Jeanette is survived by her husband Allyn; son Scott (Yvonne) Brown and their children Titus and Sarai; daughter Emily Brown; nephew Chris (Heather) Swayne and their children Rowan and Elizabeth; brother Lou (Terry) Swayne along with their children Jonathan, Steven and Douglas; mother-in-law Marian Brown; sister-in-law Gloria Philipsen; niece Carole Hamlin along with her children Ashley and Tyler. She is preceded in death by her parents Dale and Anna Swayne, sister Ardena “Dee” Swayne, and father-in-law David Brown.

Jeanette’s life was epitomized by I Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

There will be a memorial service at Trinity Church of the Nazarene 5055 El Camino Drive with lunch and dessert (Jeanette’s favorite thing) on January 30, 2025 at 11:00 am. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Jeanette’s honor to: the Children’s Hospital Colorado Adaptive Recreation for Children’s Health (ARCH) program, Colorado State University’s ONE CURE initiative, or Trinity Church of the Nazarene.

For Donations please visit:

Children’s Hospital Colorado Adaptive Recreation for Children’s Health Program (ARCH)

https://givechildrensco.org/jeanetteb

Colorado State One Cure Initiative

https://www.givecampus.com/campaigns/45910/donations/new

Trinity Church of the Nazarene

https://cstrinity.org/giving/