Rose Brown

Rose Brown, 91, a native daughter of Cucamonga, California, died on Saturday, August 20, 2011 of natural causes in San Bernardino, California. She was an orphan and was raised by relatives in the Cucamonga area. She lived in San Bernardino County for over eighty (80) years and in the city of San Bernardino for over sixty-five (65) years. She attended Chaffey High School in Ontario and Skadron College in San Bernardino. Her husband, San Bernardino County Chief Deputy Sheriff Jack H. Brown, served as Commander of the Sheriff's Sub-station in Cucamonga, California in the 1930’s and Commander of the Sheriff’s Sub-station in Victorville, California in the 1940's, until his untimely death in 1946.

She married San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Captain Jack H. Brown in 1937. In 1938, she gave birth to her only child... her son Jack. Shortly after her son's birth, she was diagnosed with tuberculosis and confined to the Loma Linda Sanitarium, where she spent almost a year. Her husband Jack, or "Big Jack" as he was known, asked Sheriff Emmett Shay for a transfer from Cucamonga to Victorville because doctors felt the hot dry climate of Victorville would help cure her tuberculosis. It worked, and

after two (2) years she was cured. Rose was 26 years old when her husband died in San Bernardino in 1946. She went to work to support her eight (8) year old son Jack and herself. There were no grandparents alive, and she had no sisters or brothers. She literally raised her son Jack on her own. She went to work at Libby's Dress Shop on 3rd Street next to the Harris Company in San Bernardino for $12.50 a week, and she worked six (6) days a week and eleven (11) hours a day. She would bring home alteration work at night so she could make another $1.00 a night. She then moved to Rosken's on "E" Street in San Bernardino as manager and to Sport Togs Dress Shops on "E" Street in San Bernardino and in Pomona. She served as a bridal consultant and helped to develop the Bridal Departments at these businesses, participating in thousands of San Bernardino weddings in the 50's, 60's and 70's. During this period and for a total of sixty (60) years, she served on the San Bernardino City Police Reserves. During the 100th Anniversary of the San Bernardino Police Department in 2005, she retired as the longest serving police reserve officer in the history of the San Bernardino Police Department. She won many sharpshooter pistol awards as a police officer. She served two (2) terms as a member of the San Bernardino County Grand Jury. She was also active in the City of Hope and San Bernardino Women's Club. She was a member of the California State Sheriff's Association and was a founding charter member of the San Bernardino Elks Lodge Emblem Club #178. She took great pride in the accomplishments of her son Jack, who was a star athlete in Jr. High, High School, and at San Jose State University. To help his mother pay the bills, Jack started working at age 13 as a box boy at San Bernardino's Berk's Marketspot, located on 7th and "E" Streets. "My work ethic came from watching my mother struggle," said her son Jack. He ascended to become the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Stater Bros. Supermarkets, the Inland Empire's largest employer, with over 18,000 employees, sales of $4 billion, and a Fortune "500" company. She was very proud of her granddaughter Jacqueline Kathleen Smith and husband Mike of Indianapolis, Indiana; granddaughter Cara Brown Hoffman and husband Scott of Scottsdale, Arizona; and granddaughter Melissa Brown Koss and husband Peter of Redlands, California. She loved the time shared with her great grandchildren: Kaitlyn, Colleen, Julianna, Jack Ryan, Emma, Caden, and Dylan. Visitation will be held on Friday, August 26, 2011 from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., followed by a Rosary at 6:00 p.m. at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral, located at 2525 Arrowhead Avenue, San Bernardino, California. A mass will be held on Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 9:00 a.m. also at Our Lady of the Rosary Cathedral. Bishop Gerald R. Barnes, Celebrant. Interment will be private at Mountain View Cemetery, San Bernardino, California, where she will rest next to her husband Jack. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Rose Brown Scholarship at California State University, San Bernardino. Checks should be made out to CSUSB Philanthropic Foundation (For: Rose Brown Scholarship) and sent to Stater Bros. Markets, P.O. Box 150, San Bernardino, California 92402 Arrangements under the direction of Mountain View Mortuary, San Bernardino, CA.