Miriam L. Brown, 97, died Feb. 1, 2017.
Born in Newark, N.J., Mrs. Brown grew up in Maplewood, N.J. She graduated at age 15 from Columbia High School, where she would later teach French and Spanish. In 1939, she graduated from New Jersey College for Women of Rutgers University. Soon after, she married Richard W. Brown. While raising their three children, she was vice president of the Maplewood Citizens Committee for the Public Schools and a member of the lay-professional committee of the Maplewood-South Orange Board of Education. As a board member of the Maplewood Human Rights Council, she established the Mayor’s Commission on Human Rights, and as a board member of the National Council of Christians and Jews, she set up a statewide human rights workshop at Rutgers. She served on the board of the American Association of the United Nations, Maplewood chapter, and provided home hospitality for visiting foreign dignitaries. She was a founding member of Congregation Beth El and later a member of Temple Israel, both in South Orange, N.J., and was active with the National Council of Jewish Women. In 1965, she received her master’s degree in French literature from Seton Hall University. After her husband’s death at age 52, she worked briefly for Eastern Airlines and traveled widely. She moved to the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York, studying at New York University and the New School for Social Research and volunteering at local theaters. She volunteered as an advocate for the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and a field worker for the Second Careers program as a member of the Mayor’s Voluntary Action Center. She worked as an administrator for a women’s medical program and later for the artist Jon R. Schueler. Mrs. Brown moved to Tucson in the late 1980s. In her later years, she resided at The Forum, where she was on the board of directors.
Mrs. Brown is survived by her children, Carol Brown of Silver Spring, Md., Judith Brown of Tucson and David (Elise) Brown of Melrose, Mass.; sister, Doris Shakin of Rockville, Md., four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.
Graveside services were held in the Congregation Chaverim section of Evergreen Cemetery, with Rabbi Stephanie Aaron officiating.
Memorial contributions may be made to National Jewish Health, 1400 Jackson St., Denver, CO 80206; Tucson Medical Center Hospice, 2715 N. Wyatt Dr., Tucson, AZ 85712; or Congregation Chaverim (Rabbi’s discretionary fund), 5901 E. 2nd St., Tucson, AZ 85711.
