Patti F. Brown

Patti Faulkner Riley-Brown was born on September 19, 1928 in Beaumont, TX, and passed away peacefully on November 2, 2019 in Austin. Patsy, as she was christened, was the only child of Eugene Archibald Faulkner and Ruth McKee Faulkner of Brenham, TX. Archie received his pharmacy diploma in 1919 and owned a small chain of drug stores in Texas after World War II. Ruth was a homemaker and then helped Archie in the stores after Patti left home. Patti graduated from high school in St Louis in 1945 after her father was transferred there by the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company. Patti enrolled at the University of Texas to study interior design in 1945 where she met and married Barton D. (Pat) Riley in 1949. They were married for 23 years and had four children: Shannon, Michael, Kerry, and Shaughn. Later in life, Patti met her husband Bart Brown and they were married in 1976. Bart was the rock on which she built her life and career for 36 years. Patti Riley-Brown Interior Design of Austin took Patti and Bart to projects as far away as Philadelphia, Baltimore, London, and Riyadh. Patti served four years as one of the two Texas representatives on the national board of directors for the American Society of Interior Design (ASID). She regularly participated in the Austin Showhouse on behalf of the Women’s Symphony League and ASID over nearly 30 years. Patti’s work was featured in the magazine Southern Living several times. Patti was one of the first business women to join the Austin Downtown Rotary Club in 1989. Patti and Bart were long time members of Tarrytown United Methodist Church.

Patti is predeceased by Bart, her parents, her daughters Shannon and Kerry, her first husband Pat, and son-in-law Charles Chappell.

She is survived by son Michael and his wife Pamela, son Shaughn Riley; step-daughters Danna Malcolm and her husband Nelson, Idanell Allman and her husband James, and Cynthia Chappell; granddaughter Kathryne Riley; step-grandchildren Dr. David Allman and his wife Summer, Marshall Allman and his wife Jamie, Kelly Barks, Robert Langston and his wife Cynthia; and a number of great-grandchildren.

The funeral service will be conducted at 10:00 AM on Friday, November 15, 219, at Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home at 3125 North Lamar Boulevard in Austin with a reception to follow. Interment will follow the reception at Austin Memorial Park.

Memorials may be made in Patti’s name to Tarrytown United Methodist Church.