Eleanor Brown

Peacefully passed away at her daughter’s home in East Orleans on November 13, 2011. She was 92.

Eleanor was born and raised in Wellesley, MA. After graduating from Wellesley High School in 1937 she went to work for New England telephone where she was a “number please” switchboard operator. Continuing on her life’s journey, she soon left for Florida to attend college but as WW2 escalated she changed course and left college to join the Women’s Army Corps during WW2. She embarked on her greatest adventure of all when she married Robert E. Brown, whom she had met at the Army’s enrollment center in Daytona Beach, Florida. He talked her out of joining the Army and got married instead. When Robert was deployed to Europe, Eleanor worked for the Red Cross in Boston. After the war ended they made their home in Wellesley and had two children. Eleanor returned to the telephone company and was a supervisor in the Wellesley office when the first dial tone type service was started. She often reminisced about what great fun it was before the dial tone to connect and sometimes covertly listen in on celebrity phone calls. She was a member of the Telephone Pioneers and had 40 years of service.

She was a member of St John’s parish and later St. James the Great parish in Wellesley.

Eleanor’s greatest sorrow was loosing her son to a motorcycle accident in 1971. Greg was married to Cynthia Reynolds and had two children and one on the way when he died at age of 24. Her great love and partner in life, Robert, (Brownie) passed away in 1984.

Eleanor moved to Orleans in 2003 to be close to her daughter and son-in-law, Janet and George Lascher.

Eleanor heartily embraced the recycling effort. She selected all types of items from the Wellesley Recycling Ctr and the Orleans Gift House and took home many highly valued treasures. She enjoyed attending the weekly lunch and dinners held at St Joan of Arc church. She made many friends there and enjoyed the company of others who were alone.

Eleanor was an energetic walker, gardener and enjoyed spending hours at the beach. She especially loved riding in the jeep with Janet and George to the Nauset Spit to enjoy a full beach day. She was diminutive in stature and soft spoken but was fiercely independent, very smart, strong willed, private and lived her life exactly how she wanted. She enjoyed a good laugh and was a pleasure to be with and will be sorely missed

She leaves her daughter Janet and son in law George of East Orleans, grandchildren, Scott Brown of Sandwich, Sandra Clinton of Walpole and Kimberly Lathe of Douglas, and five great grandchildren.

She is predeceased by her siblings, George Manning, Ruth Klein and Dorothy Roberts.

In accordance with her wishes, Eleanor will be cremated and a memorial mass will be said at 10 am, Saturday, November 19 at St John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley. All friends are invited.