Etta Brown

Ms. Etta Brown was the eldest child and first daughter of eleven children (six girls and five boys) born to the late Willie and Victoria Stone Brown. She was born on September 5, 1920 in Fairfield, South Carolina. Later the family relocated to Spartanburg, South Carolina. She departed this earthly life on July 13, 2016. Etta was preceded in death by brothers Horace, Tillman and Albert; and sisters Willie Mae and Gertrude.

For 53 years Etta was a seamstress and dressmaker, 25 of those years here on the Monterey Peninsula. Etta always loved sewing which she learned by watching her grandmother sew. When she was 23, deciding that she wanted to accomplish something in her life, she moved from Spartanburg to New York City and began studying and working in the garment industry. Etta worked days and went to school at night, eventually spending a combined seven years at Manhattan Trade School and The Fashion Institute of Technology. During the war she made army gloves. Her husband was off fighting in World War II. After he returned to New York he fell ill and after a few years he died. Etta didn’t want to remarry and instead focused her entire life on her faith and her work. She later worked at places such as Stardust Creations. In 1965 Etta started hew own business on the side but kept working in union shops to keep up her medical benefits.

In 1971 Etta moved to the Monterey Peninsula and started her own shop here, “La Couturiere,” in Monterey featuring custom designing, dressmaking, tailoring and alterations, ready-to-wear originals and accessories. One of her first jobs was redoing the lining in a coat for a man from Carmel named Eastwood. People would bring alterations to her from as far away as Palm Springs and her own creations were sought after by many.

Etta will be sorrowfully missed by her sisters Earline Brown Jeter, Bernice Brown Walker, and Margaret (Peggy) Brown Jackson; and her brothers James Edward Brown and Woodrow Brown; and especially by her beloved nieces and nephews, notably her West Coast nieces Alvenia, who gave her loving care, and Yvonne whom she knew; her devoted nephews Ronald, who visited her, and Jerry who kept us informed on the East Coast how she was doing; and, of course, a host of other relatives and friends who were touched by the uniqueness of her life as were the members of her spiritual community at the Monterey Center for Spiritual Living.