Carol Jean Brown

She lived in Seattle until the age of six, when her family moved to Kirkland, Washington where her father worked for the Ford Motor Company. She is a 1953 graduate from Lake Washington High School.

Carol attended the University of Puget Sound for a year and half, where she met her first husband Norm Ross. They were married for eleven years and had four children—Jacqulyn Nelson of Richland, WA; Norman (Michelle) of Beaverton, OR; Joanne Mykleburg (Mark) of Mattawa, WA; and Jeanette Stevens (David) of Kirkland, WA. Carol has 9 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Carol began working full time as a secretary for the University of Puget Sound in the registrar’s office. She was a single mother for several years and in 1970, Carol married Cecil Brown of Morton, Washington, where they lived and raised their family until they moved to Tumwater in the mid 1980s.

During her time in Morton, Carol became the secretary for the Superintendent of Schools, where she would work for 17 years. Upon their move to Tumwater, Carol was hired as the secretary to the Superintendent of Schools in the North Thurston School District, where she worked until she retired in 1996.

Cecil and Carol were married for 28 years. They enjoyed their community in Tumwater, visits from the grandchildren, and traveling on a number of cruises together. When Cecil passed away in 1998, Carol continued to live in Tumwater until 2012. During her 25 years in Tumwater, she was involved in many community organizations and became an active member of the First Baptist Church of Tumwater. She enjoyed a very full social life, traveling with friends and family, and loved to practice hospitality in her home.

In 2012, Carol returned to the Kirkland area to be closer to her extended family. At the age of 76, she readily embraced a new life and setting, and quickly found new friends and a church home. Her other activities in this season included serving in her church, hosting a weekly ladies’ Bible study and participating in water aerobics classes at the YMCA.

Carol enjoyed so many things, from rooting for the Seattle Mariners, to playing all kinds of card games, traveling, and having a very full social calendar with family and friends. She loved being a life-long “Washingtonian” and truly loved being a citizen of the United States of America—sporting a lot of red, white and blue colors in her wardrobe.

Carol was a beloved family member, adopted grandmother by many, and leaves behind a legacy of people who really loved and cared for her in the last season of her life.

Her faith in Christ was a source of great hope and joy in her life, and she truly loved the Lord and looked forward to being in His presence. She was blessed to be able to communicate until the very end of her life, and she passed peacefully, surrounded by those who loved her.

“Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you

will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart

and my portion forever.”

~Psalm 73:23-26