Mary Kathryn Brown, known as Kathryn, 90, passed away in Sherman, Texas, on June 15, 2024.  She had just celebrated 70 years of marriage to her husband and true love of her life, Raymond Lee Brown.

Kathryn was born on December 9, 1933, in Paris, Texas, to Fred Hall and Fannie Jo (Martin) Hall.  Born to simple means during the Great Depression, Kathryn's childhood was spent playing on unpaved streets, looking for colored glass in the road, watching horse-drawn wagons come and go, listening for the whistle of arriving trains, and visiting a relative's cotton gin and farm, where she collected eggs from surly hens. Her later childhood coincided with the war years, which included the family's huddling by a radio for war news, skimping on rationed goods, and constantly wondering if relatives who were serving were still alive.  Kathryn might never have survived childhood herself without the nearby presence of an Army base and German-POW camp, Camp Maxey, from which her physician secured an early antibiotic to treat her life-threatening bronchitis.

Kathryn graduated in 1954 with a bachelor's degree in speech therapy from Texas Woman's University in Denton, where she met her husband Raymond, who was pursuing a master's degree at nearby North Texas State University.  They met on a blind date and were married less than two years later in Paris, Texas, on June 7, 1954.  Kathryn and Raymond almost never left each other's side from the day they married, even when Raymond underwent basic training at the Army base at Fort Carson, CO, and Kathryn repeatedly smuggled him in and out of the base in the trunk of a car!  Kathryn was later to obtain a master's degree in English from North Texas State University and did most of the research toward a doctorate that examined poet Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass.

Kathryn's professional education career spanned almost 50 years as a speech therapist for 46 years, teaching in (mostly) Sherman, but also in Dallas, Tyler, Denison, and Durant, Oklahoma.  She also served as an adjunct instructor of English in the 1960's at Austin College and later at Grayson County College. Kathryn was an exceptional speech therapist.  She was universally admired by her peers and often served as mentor for younger colleagues entering the field.  While raising four active children, she was responsible for helping thousands of elementary age children achieve goals and successful speech skills with the help of speech supplies that were purchased personally with never a complaint.  Her favorite speech puppet, Mr. High Hat, was a favorite among all children!

Kathryn's focus, however, was always her husband and four children.  She nurtured her oldest son, Charles's, boyhood interest in birds that led him to become the world's authority on cliff swallows.  She modeled the best of parenthood through love, consistency and a sharp wit fine-tuned by a deep command of the English language.  Kathryn guided her daughters Melanie and Sally, and youngest son Richard to achieve professional excellence but more importantly to become loving parents of nine grandchildren, all of whom adored their grandmother, known as "Deece."

Kathryn loved reading.  Because she knew reading was a path to learning, she introduced that obsession to her children.  She collected and read thousands of books, often an author's complete catalog. Well into her late eighties she acquired a biography for every single president and was well on her way to completing them upon her death. Kathryn was fascinated by genealogy.  Long before online resources were available, she was canvassing microfiche rolls and paper records at public libraries and courthouses across multiple states.  Her greatest joy, perhaps, came from working on her lawn, often going through each square inch of turf by hand to remove weeds and pesky unwelcome Dallas or Johnson grass, and cultivating roses.  She delighted in collecting thousands of Santa Claus ornaments to display each Christmas, most of which had some backstory that related in some way to her family.

Kathryn is survived by her husband of 70 years, Raymond Brown of Sherman; sons Charles Brown (Valerie O'Brien Brown) of Tulsa, OK, and Richard Brown (Jodi Tenney Brown) of McKinney, Texas; daughters Melanie Brown Oelfke (Bill Oelfke) of McKinney, Texas , and Sally Brown Alford (Bruce Alford) of Dallas, Texas; grandchildren, Travis and Julia Alford of Houston, William Oelfke and Hank Oelfke of McKinney, Chase Alford of Dallas, Kate Oelfke Smith and Jake Smith of Dallas, Rachel Alford of Dallas, Meg Oelfke of Sherman, Jack Brown and Annabelle Brown of McKinney; and great-grandchild Barrett Cobb Alford of Houston.  She was preceded in death by her parents, Fred and Fannie Jo Hall of Paris, and infant brother, Charles Hall.

A private memorial will be held at a later date.